A Tale of Many an Adventurer: Joe's Story
by Pyrotono
Summary: An extraordinary adventure. An even better tale. Kealato is in danger, and Joe and his team from earth are the only ones who can save it.Update My Pen name used to be Joebushy, but now is Pyrotono. Just wanted you to know!
1. Attack on the Street

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 1**

**Joebushy-** if anyone has read the original chapter 1, they probably left after reading the first Paragraph. So, I now give you the upgraded chapter 1. Enjoy!

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" Jacob! Stop it, you idiot!" Joe's little brother, Jacob, was throwing snowballs at him. They had their backpacks on and had just got off the bus. Joe was already freezing cold. How couldn't he be, he had almost five rocky snowballs down his back. " Why should I stop, doduff?" Jake said sarcastically. " You sure like ticking me off, don't you?" said Joe, looking Jacob in the eye. " Of course! What'd think? I don't get _paid_ for making you go tick!" Joe laughed at this remark. Joe and Jacob were definitely brothers. You could tell by the way they fight. Starts with a snowball, ends with Jacob running away crying.

Joe was an American boy, sixth grade. He had white skin, and brown eyes with a touch of green. Same with Jacob. American, white skin, brown eyes. Neither of them knew a life-changing secret. One would have told the other. Joe had brown and black hair, while Jacobs was a light brown and a dark blond mix. Joe was much older then Jacob, being age 12. Jacob was only 9. Big difference. Joe was fairly skinny, between eighty and ninety pounds. Jacob, who was kind of heavy for his age, weighed around eighty. Not a big difference. Joe was decently intelligent, Jacob was average. They belonged to a big family, one of four siblings and parents. Joe was the oldest and Jacob was the second youngest. Their sister, Sarah, who was 10, was right behind Joe, and their baby sister, Rachel, was 3. Sarah would have been with the two walking home, but she had cheerleading that day, a Wednesday.

That day had been a cloudy winter day, somewhere in the middle of January. It was when it all happened. It had started earlier that day at Joe's school. He and a lot of his friends had been in the computer lab. Just on the computers as normal. But the screens on certain people's computers had all of a sudden started shining a golden glow. That had made all of the boys who saw the computers feel different, more powerful. But Joe had seen it and he hadn't felt any different. No more athletic, no smarter. Jacob looked at Joe and saw he was troubled. " What's on your mind, you lump of a speck of dust?" Joe stared at him. " Nothing much, you big pile of dirt." At this, Jacob stuck his tong out at Joe, looking him straight in the eye. Jacob and Joe kept talking as they walked along the side of the icy road.

" Hey, Joe, guess what I did today?" Jacob asked with happiness. " Did you have an accident?" Joe asked, snickering. " No way!" Jacob snapped, " The last time I had an accident was-" " I don't want to know, ok?" Joe cut in. They were just about to go over a hill when they heard the sound of an old truck motor, roaring with fury. " Joe, what's that?" Jacob asked in a quivering voice. " Dunno'," Joe told him. They stood where they were, not being able to see over the long hill up. Then a crude, no, more virtual looking truck burst over the hill. And it had two metal bars sticking out of its red colored sides.

It roared toward the two on the edge of the road. Joe guessed the bars were for a last resort, which they were. The truck went head on toward the two brothers. Joe had no time to think. He ran into his brother and then both of them rolled down a ditch along the side of the road. The place they lived was very wooded and very full of hills. Once the truck had passed, Joe and Jacob ran into the trees. Once they were a decent way in, they heard the truck flashing by where they had just been. " Thanks- Joe," Jacob said in between breaths.

The air around the two started getting warmer. The snow around them melted. " What the hel-" Joe started, but just as he did a leave that had just been snowy and wet caught on fire. " Run!" Joe commanded. They both forgot about being out of breath. They just ran as hard as they could. They ran down a wooded hill and through a yard, toward the next road they could find. They got on the road and turned left, trying to head for home. They heard the engine again. It was coming towards them on the road they where now on. The hill was to steep to climb up, and if they went farther down they would just be at the lake. " We have no choice, Jacob," Joe said, " We're going past them. No matter what." Jacob looked scared enough he could wet himself at any second. Then the truck pulled up in front of them.

A man stepped out, with long white hair. He wore a black long-sleeve shirt and black pants, and looked out of place standing in the middle of the woods. He looked out of place just being in the world. He had and extra big backpack, giving him the impression that he had wings hidden inside. He had a big red band stretching across his body, left soldier to the bottom right of his shirt, and another one on his left leg. His sleeves on his shirt looked like something was trying to stick up inside, same with his pants legs.

" I am Naraf," he explained, " sent here by a being far superior to you." His voice was dark, but he actually sounded like a teenager, almost like he was about eighteen. " So?" Joe said, staring at Naraf like he was wearing a really bad Halloween costume. " You dare question me? You, you mortal fool. You and your... brother here must be vanquished!" He reached into his truck and pulled out a sword. Both Joe and Jacob couldn't help laughing. He turned around and asked them, " What'd I do to make you laugh? You have no reason, I take it?" Joe and Jacob laughed even harder. " Now listen here!" Naraf yelled. Joe and Jacob kept laughing. " I still have my heat ray!"

Joe and Jacob just couldn't stop. Joe finally said, " I think you left your door open!" The two couldn't stop. Naraf turned around to look at his truck. " No, I don't believe I have," he said. " Just zip up your pants!" Jacob giggled. Naraf looked down. " Excuse me? I am not accustomed to your earthly matters." Joe and Jacob laughed even harder at this. " Listen, man," Joe said, still laughing, " Look down to where the sun don't shine and you'll see what I mean." Naraf looked down at his pants. Now or never, Joe thought. He ran up to Naraf, who was still hunched over, checking around his pants. He kicked with all his strength at Naraf's head. But his kick missed.

Naraf had moved with extreme speed and had turned up behind Joe and in front of Jacob. He clutched his sword hard and attacked. Joe didn't even have time to turn around. There was a scream. Jacob had fallen. Joe ran towards the hill. He picked up a stick and then ran toward Naraf. He slashed as hard as he could, but nothing. It was like a lion agenst a kitten. The kitten can scratch all it wants, but the lion will be to fast or not hurt. A no-win situation.

Naraf then went for Joe. The attack was accomplished. Joe started falling. He had pain, agony, and complete anger. His vision started blurring. But then something happened. He started to go back up. His vision came back, and he saw that he was surrounded by a greenish glow. Naraf was walking away. Joe finally regained control. He then looked at his brother. He, too, was glowing green. A weird predicament. Joe ran toward Naraf, whom was still walking forward. He then slowed into a walk, then he stopped. " Naraf!" Joe called, " It'll take more then that to bring me down!" Naraf turned around. " Ha. You're still here, are you? Well, I suggest you stay where you are, kid. You're out of you're league." " Out of my league!" Joe yelled, " I just stood up to you- like- killing me! Out of my league? Yeah, right. Whatever."

Naraf glared at Joe, then at Jacob. " Kid, you got some potential. I would kill you now, but I think you'll be a good opponent someday. That's why I am sparing you and your sibling. But you won't remember this. Good-bye, Joe, until we meet again." Naraf then destroyed his car with a flick of his wrist. Dark magic. He then ripped his backpack not using his hands, but his wings that were hidden inside the pack. He then flew off. Joe and Jacob then whited out.

They found themselves at the foot of their walkway. " What happened?" Joe asked Jacob. " I don't know, but that was really weird. One second we're talking about accidents, the next we're here! Maybe we have physic pants, or physic underwear, or physic-" " Do I really want to hear this?" Joe asked. Then the two walked into their house.

" How are you?" their mom said as they walked in. " Good," they both said. " Do your homework!" said their dad. " Did they plan saying this?" Joe asked Jacob. " I bet," Jacob said. Joe only asked that because he had forgotten his homework at school. So he went upstairs. He then thought to call his friend, John. So, he picked up the phone and dialed. It was John who picked up.

"Hello, John?" Joe started, "I needed to know what we have for homework tomorrow." "Um, Joe, I can't really tell you." John said. "Why not?" Joe asked. "Because you're not in my class, remember?" John said with almost disbelief. "Oh yeah, thanks anyway. Bye!" said Joe. "Bye." John answered. "Ok, that was dumb." Joe thought as he hung up. Why would he of called John? Even though he knew his friends weren't home, or at least the ones in his class, he shouldn't have called John. "Oh well," Joe said to himself.

He knew he couldn't do homework, so he decided to play video games. But that's where he made the mistake. He plainly turned his system on. If he would of known what would be happening in the next few minutes, he would have at least said good-bye. He grabbed his controller. Once past the tidal screen, he found he felt he had played it before. But from what he recalled, it was new to him. His hands were gripping the controller tightly. He didn't like the game; it felt much too real. It was based in another world, and it seemed to be in medieval times. He played as a healing mage. Then he thought back.

He vaguely remembered doing something like that in the real world. But it must've been a dream. Was it? He didn't remember very clearly. Nothing was clear. The screen did show Joe, but it showed other figures, too. Figures that were blurred out. Joe was to addicted. He was so far, two. He was on this one island, farther out from a bigger island. Something was coming. Then the screen went blank. Total darkness.

But it wasn't the only thing that went dark. Joe's bedroom, although in late afternoon and with windows, had gone pitch-dark. There was a sucking sensation on Joe's whole body. He felt as though he was going up into his television. He grabbed for his bedpost, but it had disappeared. He then started swirling, feeling less wind then he should have been. He then closed his eyes and felt the world pass away from in front of him.

When he opened his eyes, he found he was lying on a fluffy patch of grass on a mini Island. He looked around. He could see a shore; maybe a few minutes' swim away. The island had a swirling hill, with a path around it. Joe could see a single tree on top of it, so there must have been fertile soil. Or so he thought.

He looked around. He had to take in what was happening to him. He looked on the ground to see a smooth wooden staff. A crystal-clear blue gem was mounted on top of it. He bent to pick it up, and he felt something. He looked at himself. He was wearing the robe of a healing mage, a dark purple one. It was the kind of robe with a hard outside for protection. Like in a game. A strategy, battling game. "Oh, heck no..." He said, with a look of dread on his face. There was a growling from the top of the mountain. Joe decided to go up and investigate.

He walked up the rocky spiral path to the top of the mountain. It took longer then he expected. He saw that the tree he had seen earlier had the biggest, most exotic leaves he had ever seen. The leaves growing first were green, and the bark was at first glance brown, but looks can be deceiving. Once Joe saw it up close, he saw that the bark was actually a dark yellow, and the leaves on the top were blue and red. The tree was so big he couldn't see the other side of it. But the tree had something in store to do just that. It turned invisible.

Good thing it did. On the other side stood a pack of wolves, maybe about six of them. They were all staring at Joe with their blue eyes, their tongues hanging out. Joe saw that explaining their eyes as blue didn't give the just of it. Their whole _eye sockets_ were blue. A torturing color. A glowing sky blue. Out of instinct, Joe started down the rocky path, along the spiral hill. The wolves barked fiercely. They were after him.

It must of have been a rare treat for the wolves; the island only had grass. The rocks down the path were so huge, completely immense. Joe had to dodge around them as he was running. Then a wolf ran to in front of him. It stared at him, eye to eye. It barked again, but this time went mad. It was like what a dog sounds like when it's chasing something; outrage. There came more mad barks. Joe looked behind him. The other wolves stood there. He looked at the staff he still held. " What can I do?" he whispered to himself. Then it came to him. The idea to annoy.

He whipped his staff around, knowing that it would intimidate the wolves. They growled without mercy. Then they lunged at Joe's head. When they had almost met it, though, he ducked. The first wolf ran into the other. Then they all fell. Straight down. They would of fell on Joe, but at the last second, he started sliding down the hill. When he got to the bottom he looked around. The daytime was fading away. He looked up the mountain, then, to see the wolves after him again. When they got to the bottom of the hill they lunged again. This time they hit Joe. He fell backward and fainted.

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**Joebushy- **There. I knew I would get around to finishing this sooner or later. Please review. 


	2. The Phoenix Fight and the Rat Rumble

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 2**

**Joebushy-** if you haven't noticed, I just updated this chapter. It was really bad considering the plot. Yeah. Read, review, and enjoy! If you have any objections to the story line, complain! That's what your here for! (Oops... shouldn't of let that slip...)

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A rooster crowed. Joe's eyes opened abruptly and he looked around. He was in a tan-shaded tent lying on a crude bed made of leaves and branches. " Finally," said a voice. " We didn't think you were coming," said another. Joe looked at the tent opening to see two of his friends, Chris and Joseph. They walked in and sat themselves down on two more beds stationed at two other places in the tent. " Where are we?" Joe asked. " Not on Earth," Joseph said. Joe looked around him. " It looks like Earth," he stated. " Joe!" Chris snapped, " Did you not see that tree? The layout of this planet? This isn't Earth, Joe, this is Kealato!" Joe looked to the floor and back to his friends. They looked like they were wearing armor. In Joseph's hand was a sword and in Chris' a spear. " Wh- what's Kealato, and... And what are you?" Joe asked the two. "Hmm, lets see," Joseph said sarcastically, " Kealato might be the ground below you, the sky above you, and everything around you, and we might just be cavaliers, do you think?" Joe looked down at the floor again, averting the two's gazes.

" Well, I just thought it might be something else, that's all," Joe said. " Well, its not," Joseph said. " I take it something has happened?' Joe asked the two with a touch of concern. " The heck something's happened!" Joseph yelled with anger, " We are no longer on earth, Joe. What we know is gone, completely!" Joseph seemed filled with anger and Chris with silent rage. Joe understood why, but that didn't affect him, and he didn't know why. " Guys, it's ok," Joe said comfortingly. Joseph and Chris slumped down in their beds wearily, sinking into the leaves.

Joseph was a 13-year-old boy, who mostly had a split attitude. One was negative, the other happy-go-lucky. He had green eyes, dark brown hair, and white skin chapped from being dry. He was as tall as Joe, but was a little bulkier. He was almost the strongest person Joe knew. Chris was a 12-year-old boy who was almost always positive. Except for now. He had hazel colored eyes and brown hair that was almost blond. He was about the same weight as Joe, but was smaller in size. He had a mildly freckled face, although the freckles were hardly noticeable. The two were, like Joe, both American.

" We need to get out of this messed up place," Chris stated soberly from his bed. Joe thought about what he said, but it didn't make sense. Did he want out of the tent? No, he had just came in. " Get out of where?" Joe asked him. " Joe," said Chris sitting up, " you must of still been out of it when we were talking, because only a troll wouldn't get that-" " What's have you got agenst trolls?" Joseph asked him. " Uh- nothing," Chris said, " They're just really stupid." " Ha, ha, very funny," Joe stated," But really, get out of where?" " This world! It's horrible! You can even go into town and look for yourself!" Joseph yelled. " Joseph, calm down," Chris said, " he can go in there in the morning. For now, I'm going out to get supper, and I hope you come." Chris got up and stormed outside, spear in hand. " Shall we go," Joe said sarcastically. " Let's," Joseph answered back. The two got up and walked outside.

They had to run to catch up with Chris, who was far down on the sandy shore of the beach they had set up camp on. Once they did, Joe had one more question. " Where are we going?" he asked. " To get food," Chris answered simply. " So," Joseph asked Joe as they walked along, more briskly now as it was getting dark, " I take it you are a healing mage, correct?" Joe studied himself. " Yeah... um, I guess so." Joseph looked impressed. " Do you know how to heal?" he asked. " How to- oh, wait, no." Joseph's impression seemed to fade. " Well, I guess you _have_ to go into town tomorrow, don't you," he asked. Now Joe was starting to take it all in.

" Ah ha, now I see," he said, " In this world, everyone has a special power, and they have to master it." "No and yes," Joseph answered. " Not everyone in Kealato has a special power, but for the ones who do, yeah, they have to master it." " So," Joe said, " I need to learn my healing mage powers tomorrow?" Joseph nodded.

" Don't look now," Chris said suddenly, " but I think dinner just found us..." He was right. Joe and Joseph looked around. At first they saw nothing, but then they looked to the sky to see five huge birds swooping toward them. Everything about them was red. Their beaks' were light red, their bodies flame red, and their sharp clawed feet a blood red. " What are those?" Joe asked Chris. " Those," Chris stammered, " are b-baby phoenix d-diggers." All three looked at the baby phoenix. They had skull red eyes that looked bloodshot. Their wingspan was about as long as all three of the team members put together. But that was only one of them. Five was even bigger. They started flying in a horizontal line. The one in the middle swooped down and tried to snatch one of the three, but Joseph and Chris leapt to either side and Joe sprawled on the ground.

" Be careful!" Joseph yelled to Joe, whose back had been scratched. Two more phoenixes started toward Joe, still in the middle. Joe didn't see them at first until he stood up and looked behind him. The giant birds were closing in. Joe had no time to think, let alone do something. He just stood there, looking wide eyed at the two phoenix swooping at him. They both stuck out their claws to grab Joe, but just as they did, the two cavaliers from Joe's right and left slashed and stabbed. The two phoenix soared upward away from Joe. " Second time in two days," he said to the two. Chris and Joseph ran to stand by Joe. " What now?" he asked. " Dunno'," Chris answered, " but it might be best if we run." Joe and Joseph nodded. The three turned around and started off at a run. " Where do we go?" Joe asked. " Nowhere!" Chris yelled. " Just run!" Joseph commanded.

The three heroes ran along the beach, the phoenix hot on their tails. Then, where the beach ended, they came to a cliff. They turned around to find they were trapped. They looked at the five baby phoenix diggers looking for food. Joseph then said, " You know, I could of done with some light meat, like a gwaffa-" " What's a gwaffa?" Joe asked. " Something like chicken," Joseph answered. The phoenix kept getting closer. Soon all five landed- sort of. They dive-bombed the ground and went into it. " Climb!" Chris commanded. The three grabbed rock after rock of the cliff, trying to get up it and away from the birds. Joe was first to the top. He was in a grass filled area of rolling hills. It felt extremely breezy... and then he saw it. Sitting on one of the hills was a phoenix digger ten times the size of the others. Joseph and Chris climbed up beside him and looked at it.

It seemed to notice their presence. It looked at them with its glaring blue eyes. " Woah, are those what I think they are?" Joe asked. " Yeah," Joseph said, " those are blue eyes." The bird swooped into the air, then toward the team. At the last second it pulled up. The heroes turned around to look at it go over them, but what they saw they didn't expect. Behind them the baby phoenix diggers had their heads up out of the ground, and they were shooting a beam of fire out of their mouth. Joe and his team had nothing to do.

But then something happened. Two cloaked figures, one in a brown cloak, the other in green, came out of the ground beside them. The one in green yelled "_ Lifalin!_" and the one in brown yelled " _Ifothaga!_" The two mysterious figures put out their swords and light and dark magic expelled from them. Lifalin was light and Ifothaga was dark. Both spells could uphold a solid object, and in this case, the phoenix. " Run." the green cloaked druid commanded. Joe, Chris, and Joseph ran away from the magic users and the phoenix, down the hill, around, and back to their tent.

" Well," Joe said as they got back into the tent, " there's always fish!" Joseph and Chris groaned as Joe grabbed Chris' spear and headed out onto the beach. " Joseph," Chris said, " what do you think we're on Kealato for?" Joseph thought for a moment. " To find our way out," he suggested. Chris shrugged approvingly. The two went outside to get some wood out of their pile, and then they brought it inside for a fire. Chris, after the wood was stacked, took two twigs and started rubbing them. " You idiot!" Joseph yelled. He held up his sword and a seemingly rough rock. He laid the rock on the wood and then swung at it with his sword. It caught fire, then the wood caught. " It's weird how that when on Earth things spark, on Kealato they catch fire, isn't it?" " 'Stronger' atmosphere," Chris said humorously.

A few minutes late Joe came in with three huge fish on the end of Chris' spear. He placed the fish, still on the spear, into the fire. In a matter of seconds they were cooked and each person had one in their hands. " That was fast," Joseph said. As they ate, Chris explained of the Dukito spear. It was, " A shining silver spear with an enlarged area a little before the middle," as he explained it. He also said that the end of the spear split into four as it hit its target, ripping it apart. He explained how it was in the mountains between Helioa, the mountain town, and Neasmil, the main port town, although it was a bit off the main path. After they had finished eating, they went to sleep.

That night, Joe had a dream. His friends- not just Joseph and Chris, where being hit by five blurs. Then he saw himself, standing back and powerless. His friends were dying, he could do nothing. It was impossible to control his dream; he wasn't him- if that was really possible. He saw blood gush from his friends. Then he opened his eyes. He was breathing heavily. " I need to learn how to heal," he told himself. He got up and grabbed his staff from under his bed, then, without even waking his friends, walked outside.

It was still dark, but he could tell it was morning. He walked into the town, wondering what it was called. It was all stone, from the street to the buildings. Instead of streetlights, there were flames burning in wooden posts. Only merchants were awake, lining the street and getting ready for the day ahead. After he searched for a while, he came across a magic shop with a sign that said, " _Exemap Magic Shop- EST 1814" _He stared at it. "Weird…" He said aloud as he walked inside. What he saw was staff upon staffs, potion upon potion, wand upon wand, any magical item imaginable. He walked up to the clerk and asked, " Can you teach me how to heal?" The clerk, an old looking man in suspenders, looked at Joe for a second before answering. " Well," he said, " I usually don't give out lessons in the mornings, especially at six as I'm opening, but with your persistent look, sonny, I don't think I could refuse!"

The man signaled for Joe to follow him and then headed away to the end of the shop. The stone floor echoed as they walked. At the end of the main shop was a door, and Joe, still following the man, went through it. He found himself in a dusty old room with one big table in the middle, a potion-mixing table on the side, and chairs. " Sit down," the clerk, or from what he was doing, the storeowner, said. Joe sat down in the nearest seat. The owner brought a chair toward Joe and sat down. He was going to learn the art of healing.

About an hour later, after some practicing, Joe was put to the test. " All you do," the store owner said, " is say '_heal'_ and raise your staff. It's so easy!" " Yeah," Joe said sarcastically, " especially when your arm is CUT AND BLEEDING!" The old man didn't look startled. In fact, he looked just the opposite. He looked calm. " Well," he said simply, " Use your other arm, you're left one, is it?" If Joe's right arm wasn't bleeding he would have slapped his head with it. " You paralyzed it 'for later', remember?" Joe said, even more sarcastic than before. " Oh, dear," the man said, " Apprentice!" A hooded boy wearing an orange cloak over his blue shirt and black pants walked in from a room even further from the shop. His hood was up, so it was impossible to see his face. He was shorter and Joe, and his build was a bit smaller " Go and fetch me a potion to... heal wounds. Well, what are you waiting for? Go, my lad, go," The boy walked back into the room from which he had come.

Joe and the man sat there, not talking, and hardly moving. Joe's arms were still under different conditions. Then a loud crashing sound, like the one of glass, was heard from the room the boy was in. Joe and the shop owner looked in the direction of the door to that certain room. The apprentice came out, his hood off, a potion in his hands, trembling. Joe looked at him. " Zach?" he asked. " Ye-yeah... bu- but don't talk. Don't m-move. They- they're coming..." Joe heard a loud squeaking noise, like the one of a rat, only much deeper, and there were more then one. Zach ran to Joe and the shop owner, then handed Joe the potion. He drank it and his arms felt much better. " What is the meaning of this!" the man asked, although there was no time for an answer. As he had been saying it, twenty mutant rats, big as a human baby, had charged in. Joe and Zach had noticed and dived for the table. The man, though, had not noticed. When he looked at the rats he was already to late. One of them lunged straight to the man's heart- and through it. It was a horrible sight.

Zach, on the table with Joe, jumped off and ran into the main magic shop. Joe followed him with the rats in hot pursuit. The customers all ran out screaming. The shop was big, with racks on each and every wall. Zach ran away from Joe, leaving him with the rats. " Um... Zach... this really isn't a good time to run off... help!" A rat, the same one that had pummeled the shop owner into death, was in the air going toward Joe's chest. He dodged it just in time, although he fell in the process. Not good.

All twenty rats were now trying to get to Joe. But so much for trying. " Move!" Zach yelled from somewhere near Joe. He rolled to the left, leaving the rats confused where they had been. Joe heard an explosion and turned around on the ground to see about five rat's dead. He got up and looked back to make sure they were gone, but they had disappeared. He turned to Zach, who had thrown an exploding potion, hoping he would have some explanation. He looked more confused than even Joe did. The rats seemed to have gotten bigger. " Zach!" Joe yelled as he ran to him, " I know what happened! The rats from the ground were ate by the other rats, which got bigger. " Oh, yeah, I knew that!" Zach said. He looked as though he was thinking. "Be right back," he told Joe. Then he ran off again, leaving Joe alone.

Nothing to do but run. Which, of course, Joe did. He ran back into the back room where he had found Zach, then he climbed up onto the table. He looked down at the fifteen rats, filing in by fives. " You can't get me!" he yelled hopefully. He was right. They couldn't. But they could bring him to them. All of them went for one of the four wooden table legs and started chewing. Lower and lower he was going, always getting closer to the rats. They were soon able to jump and get him, but they didn't. They kept chewing, and Joe knew why. The more they ate, the bigger they got. They were all about the size of a three-year-old now, about two or three feet tall. Joe's feet were touching the ground when he caught site of a light soaring through the air. " Joe!" Zach yelled, " Catch!" Joe looked in the direction of the door and saw Zach throwing him a potion. " Drink it!" he commanded. Joe caught it and gulped it down as fast as he could. He felt as though he could lift an elephant. Plain, immense, unfathomable power.

He punched one of the rats and it went flying into a wall. " Oh yeah!" he yelled. He kicked and knocked five into the ceiling. Then he pounded four straight into the ground. Then he picked up his staff and swung it at one more. " Four to go," he said. He dropped his staff again, then he attacked three of them furiously with his fists " Where's the last one?" he asked Zach, who had just came into the room. As though answering the question, a gigantic rumbling came from the next room back. Joe looked at the ground and saw that the other rat's had disappeared. Then a different rat, ten times bigger then both Joe and Zach, pounded into the room. " I didn't know they tested steroids on animals," Zach joked, although his face was both serious and scared. It seemed to have understood. It ran to Zach faster then he had time to think, then he slashed him. Zach fell to the ground. " Say... '_Heal Zach!_" He commanded Joe weakly. " _Heal Zach!_" Joe yelled. In a flash of green light, Zach was back on his feet. Then Joe turned his attention to what stood in front of him. The mega mutated rat. He looked at its glowing sky-blue eyes, and then he tried to shift his attention away from the hideous beast. But he couldn't. He was stuck staring into the mass of blue. Joe couldn't move.

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**Joebushy-** I have actually only worked on this chapter for two days. I love typing! Please review, I don't care if you flame as long as it's helpful. 


	3. The Mayor and the Lynx

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

Chapter 3

**Joebushy**- I do not own anything in this story except the Idea for the story line. Heck, I didn't even make up the world. Oh, and the Chris in my story is **NOT** the Chris from Chunkypuff3's Story.

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Trapped. Right where he was. Being stared down by the infinite mass of blue. He tried to move, and tried, but Joe couldn't. He was stuck. He could only hope that Zach would come up with something. "Zach, come on. Help" "I'm still mixing" "WHAT could you be mixing? A potion that melts stuff" "Close enough. I'm mixing a fire potion. I think this thing is made out of metal." "Well, hurry. I can't move! It's coming at me" And indeed it was. The Rat beast, a mutated mega rat with blue eyes, same as some wolves Joe saw once, was charging at him. All of a sudden, The ground moved. Not the ground everywhere, but only the ground under Joe. There became a black field of magic around Joe. The Beast slashed at him. Impossibly, It hit the force field and bounced back. "Zach, What'd you do" "Nothing... What'd you do" "I just asked you- ahhhhhhh" It was held out due to the fact that Joe was moving- to the ceiling. He stopped there, about ten feet up.

Looking around, he saw something. It was a Boy, wand out. He was wearing a teal robe over his blue jeans. It was impossible to see his face, because he was in a dark corner and also due to the fact that expelling out of the wooden wand he was holding was a black beam, getting bigger at the end. The end was also just big enough for a person to be in. And a person was just what was. The boy set the wand gently down, making Joe go down with it, agenst the wall. He aimed the wand at the Rat. He then said in a familiar voice" Stoprian" The rat stopped. "No way." Joe said. "Yeah." the Boy answered. "Now, stop talking Joe. I'm gonna' pour this on it" Zach cut in. He poured the Fire Potion onto the rat- and it melted into a liquid. "Nice" the wondering magic man said. "Who are you" Zach said. " Man, can't you recognize me" "No." "My nickname around here is the Woodpecker. A name I earned in a castle magic tournament." "Now I recognize you. Your Jake"

"Got that right."

Jake was an 11-year-old boy and had semi-blond hair. He wouldn't be suspected to be a magic user, but then again, would Joe be suspected as a Healing mage? Anyhow, he was a little bit shorter then Joe, but not by much. He had a wooden wand with a crystal sphere on the end; the end he didn't point at a target.

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**Joebushy:** I think you might need to know about the occupation of each character. Joe is a Healing mage. Joseph and Chris are both cavaliers. Zach is an alchemist, and Jake is a Magic user. Yep. I figured now is the time too new and refresh.

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When Joe, Zach, And Jake walked into the tent, Joseph and Chris where packing up. Chris was the first to talk. " Hey... Whoa, Joe what'd you do, put up signs saying 'Do you know me'" "Nah. I'll tell you the whole story." "Well, not right now. We're goin' back into town. Joe, it's now time to find the Dukito Spear. And we are gonna' look 'til we" Zach butted in. "I heard it's in the Mountain town of Helioa." Jake then said" If we leave now, we can get there in three days. Since we are on an island, we're gonna need a five-person boat." Joseph pointed out that they would need food and a place to sleep. "Smart" Joe said. The five friends picked up Chris and Joseph's stuff, then headed toward town. But what they found was a horrible surprise.

The stone town of Exemap was in a state of emergency. Gigantic animals were terrorizing the whole place. Gigantic bears. "What'd we tell ya" Chris more said as a statement then a question. "I hear something" Joseph said"It sounds like laughter." And indeed it was. The team of adventurers listened intently. Over the loud screams of the town people, it was hard to pinpoint the location. They were all standing in a large ally, leading from the beach to the stone street. The ally was completely empty, except for people running out of the city. "Why are you running" Zach asked a running civilian. The person didn't answer. He just kept running. Someone else ran into Chris. He fell down, not to bad.

"Something's wrong. Way wrong." Zach said as he and his teammates ran toward the laughter. They were coming up to a dead end. "Hey, guys, how high can you jump" Chris asked. "Why" Jake asked back. "Jump" Chris commanded. The group jumped. Joseph stumbled. He got back up. His friends were looking ahead, stiff as stone. "What are you guys do- crap. That thing is huge." The thing in front of them was a polar bear, which seemed to be burnt. It also had two arrows sticking out of its body. "Weird" Jake said. Joseph seemed scared. "More then you may think" he said" There are no polar bears on this island. It must be strong, with much endurance." He turned to his friends. Something was missing. Someone was missing. "Joe! Where'd you go"

Joe hadn't been kidnapped, nor attacked. He was running, though. There was a large vegetated area on the island. And where there was vegetation, there was bound to be animals. Joe didn't know about the names of them, or what they looked like. He only knew that new worlds meant new animals. He ran through the town. But then he was stopped by a laughing man- with blue eyes. He looked like a very important man. Or, he would, at least, if he didn't have the eyes of a beast. "Stop, fool" the beast-man said. " I can't let you enter the Forest of Lynx. I will not let you past this offset. Now I must kill you." "Well, you could of told me this was a ' I would tell you but then I'd have to kill you' type thing" Joe said. Then the man said" I see and hear everything around here. That shot you made at me. I heard it. I hate jokes. And About me! I am a Mayer! A ruler of a Town full of insignificant people. I do NOT have a royal measurer! I am not to be taken lightly. I may be old, but no matter. You may not get in. No, never. Only over **MY DEAD BODY!**"

Joe looked around. Nothing. Nothing to beat the Mayer of Exemap, Guardian of the Forest of Lynx. But what was a Lynx"An animal" Joe thought. The Mayer was charging at Joe. Joe moved out of the way, and the man Turned. " Not as stupid as a rat, I see." The town ruler got mad. This time when he charged, he kept closed his eyes. "This gives me an idea" Joe thought as he dodged again. " Oh, Mr. Mayer, I have a question. Who _really_ is your royal Measurer" That did it. The man with infinite blue eyes was just to mad. His eyes where glaring. For a moment, his eyes seemed to be red. Of course they weren't, although he was so mad they could have been.

The Mayer charged uncontrollably. Eyes closed, bound ahead. Joe was standing in the beast-mans' path. Just as the impact was about to occur, Joe jumped. The man ran, on a crash collision toward a building. But Joe wasn't ready for this next part. The mayor ran on, straight through the building. Joe started again toward the Forest of Lynx. There was a little amount of buildings around him. Little is worse then none. Much worse. The town ruler charged through a building marked Lynx control. It was destroyed in an instant. The man was now charging toward Joe. Fire was what was coming out of his speed. "If he were to fall now..." Joe thought. He was getting closer. Joe moved right, leaving his left foot where it was. The evil man ran into Joe's leg- and tripped. He fell down and scraped on the ground, still moving. When he stopped, I don't hate to say he was in oblivion.

Joseph and Chris were attacking simultaneously. Zach tried distracting, while Jake used elements of magic, like ice, fire, and earth. It was all useless. Nothing to do. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Impossibly, there was nothing this group could do to fend off the polar bear. They were all tired, hurt. " C'mon! You can do better" Joseph was just being somewhat cocky. He was as tired as the rest. There was no hope. Zach jumped up and down, and the blue-eyed polar bear looked at him. Perfect. Joseph and Chris charged. It scratched the Bear, but just as soon as he got the bruise, it went away. " Bull Crap" Jake said. The Polar Bear reared up on its hind legs. Jake got a little to close and- the bear did a swing kick. " Woah! How'd it do that" Chris yelled. Jake was agenst the wall, Trying to get up. He did succeed, although he was hurt, more as then the rest of the group.

Running. Joe was almost to the treelike. He leapt over a stump, and then entered the woods. He looked around. The trees were unlike anything he had ever seen before. Many colors of bark, so many exotic fruits. It was so magnificent that Joe didn't notice a giant, stripped, blue, cat-like creature. Joe kept walking. The creature stalked up on Joe. He walked on; not noticing anything he thought was out of the ordinary. But something was. Not to Kealato, but to Joe. To a person from earth. He would soon be the second person from our planet to own a proud, noble, hardworking creature... at least, for a while. He was about to become an owner of a Lynx.

Joe only got a little farther before seeing something out of the corner of his eye. It was a giant tiger-like creature. Joe turned around. Nothing there. He did a 360. Not a thing. He looked all around. But then he looked up. There, in the trees was a blue Lynx. Now a blue Lynx was only matched the rarity of a white Lynx.

There was less then a dozen of them left. The blue and white Lynx were both almost extinct. It pounced Joe. He was now on the ground. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Get off you crazy animal" Then the animal licked Joe. It licked him! How crazy. "You must be the Kealato equivalent of a cat, huh boy. " "RAWRRRRRR" "Not that equivalent, then." It shook its head no. "Smart, aren't you. But I have a problem. My friends are in trouble. I need your help. They're being attacked by a Polar Bear. I believe you can beat him and save my friends. Can you help me" It shook its head yes. "Then we're off" Joe said as he jumped on the back of his new Lynx friend

The Lynx growled as they went past the broken down Lynx Control building. "What is it boy" The Lynx walked toward the building. He used his Nose to poke at a sign. Joe got off him and walked about a step to read the sign. It said" The rules of Lynx owning;" Joe picked it up and smirked.

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**Joebushy- **Wow. I just got the perfect idea for the next chapter. Watch and learn- your gonna' love it! Please, I want to see some reviews. So, REVIEW! 


	4. Bears Attack

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story.**

Chapter 4

**Joebushy**- I forgot the idea! I'm sorry. Oh well. I have something better up my sleeve. Aha. Yes I have it. The heroes will- oops! Anyway, you need a sum of the story.

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**Summary up to chapter 3- **Joe picked up a random video game after calling John about his homework. He plays it then gets sucked in. He lands on an island then gets chased by wolves with blue eyes. His friends Joseph and Chris rescue him.

He goes to a magic shop to learn how to be a healing mage, and then the apprentice lets loose 20 mutant rats. Joe finds out the apprentice is his friend Zach. They fight. Joe kills 19 and the one rat that's left eats them and got bigger, three times Joe's size. The twosome started losing so Zach went to mix a potion. Joe stood to stare at the rat, and saw it had blue eyes. He stood frozen, and the rat tried to hit him.

A force field comes around Joe and then he raises into the air, away from harm. There was another boy in the room, wand in front of him. He made the rat stop where it was at, then Zach melted it with the potion.

They went to the tent then went into the town to find chaos. OK, that's all. You can read chapter 3.

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**Chapter 4**

The polar bear with the burnt fur and the arrows sticking out of its torso wouldn't stop. The healing mage-less team was getting weak. Never had they felt so useless. They couldn't stay up much longer. "Jake, use shield" Chris commanded. He was the one who commanded the team. Joe would be the main commander, they decided, but since he was gone, he couldn't be. Zach, though running around, managed to suggest Joe might not of made it over the dead-end wall. "He might have ran into it" he suggested. Joseph knew it was a possibility, but he decided he didn't want to admit it. Never had they felt so much pain. "Fine then" Jake said" Magield"

All of a sudden, a black shield covered the team...

For all but two seconds. As soon as it came, the Bear came through it. The shield broke. "Chris, do something" Zach yelled. " O.K., Scramble" The team did. That turned out to be a mess. All of them got in the same spot at one point, and the Blue-eyed polar bear attacked. They were all up agenst a wall now, one hit from fainting. Chris' arm had three slashes marks on it, all red. Joseph had an X shaped scar on the side of his face. Jake had a broken arm. Zach was paralyzed from the waist down. They all couldn't move. The ground had turned from a stone gray to a blood red. A perfect explanation. Blood red. The Polar bear roared. Two grizzly bears and two Black bears came around the corner at the end of the street. They came and stood behind the Polar bear. "We can't win" stated Joseph. "Yes, we can." everyone looked at each other. No one had said a thing.

There was then a loud Roar. The team was hit agenst a wall by the beasts. The animals attacked them. Two went on Chris. The heroes were all were in pain. Whether it be arms, legs, hands, or feet. The bears then backed up and started charging foward. Forward. toward the wall. " Oh hel-p us" Joseph said, almost swearing. The blue-eyed beasts were getting closer. The polar bear in the lead. Then there was another roar. The bears got scared and started attacking furiously at the team. But then again, something was wrong. They couldn't feel it. " Oh no, we're dead" Chris screamed . Then a human like figure came over the wall and toward the team.

He was glowing green, and looked to be wearing a pointed hat. He walked up to the team. " Get em' boy" the glowing green figure said. There could be seen a blue blur jumping over the wall to behind the person. It was a Blue Lynx. The person slowly stopped glowing. " Joe" Jake said.

And as you know, of course it was. " Now go" Joe said as he jumped onto the Lynx. The heroes ran. Joe told Blurasp his blue Lynx to attack. It thrashed at the bears. The polar bear backed off for the time being. A Grizzly and a Black attacked. Blurasp attacked the two blue eyed beasts, sending them straight to the ground. "Man, you're good" said Joe. The animal of Joe's ran with Joe on his back after one of the other bears. The secound grizzly pounced, Putting Joe and Blurasp to the ground. "Heal! Heal Blurasp" Joe and Blurasp both felt a sensation over them. They got up and attacked the grizzly again. It spun out, actually avoiding the attack.

Suddenly from behind the bear, there was a noise. It turned around. It's last move. There were swings of two swords to the head, an earthquake under only the bear, and an explosion. The Lynx stepped back. "It's OK, boy, it's only my friends" Joe said"Oh, and guys, **WHAT ARE YOU DOING!** I told you to leave, but no. You _had_ to come back and save me. Ha ha ha. Thank you." "He needs to get his priorities straight" Jake whispered to Joseph.

Now stood a black bear and the polar bear. The bears attacked the Heroes. Joe, Blurasp, and Jake jumped one way.

Chris, Joseph , and Zach jumped another. Now there was three heroes on either side of the two bears. First they had to get rid of the Black. They all fired their attacks at it. Jake first fired 'Icena', or his ice attack. Joseph and Chris fired spears. Zach fired... nothing. " I forgot my leather pack that I keep my potions in" he said with little enthusiasm. The bear was hardly scratched. Blurasp pounced, almost throwing Joe off it's back. The Black just dodged, brawled, then attacked. It slashed so hard that it knocked Blurasp over. This sent Joe flying into Zach and into the wall. They both lay hopelessly. Jake went over to help, but then a sort of dark magic came into him, definatly from a Druid, and he fell over, unable to move anything but his mouth. Chris and Joseph went over to save them, but they ran into a wall of invisible light and fell down backward.

"That must of hurt" Jake said. Then two swords slashed through the two bears. They fell to the ground. The team looked over to see who or what had saved their butts, but by the time they did they were gone. The four people or things that had saved them had gone as fast as they had come. just like almost anything else in Kealato.

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**Joebushy-** well, who were the _few people_ who saved our heroes? You can be sure you'll find out soon!

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**_Update_**- I have fixed the errors in most chapters. Thanks for pointing that out, Chunkypuff3 


	5. The Hardships of Building a Boat using M...

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 5**

**Joebushy-** Ok, I admit. This story has some mystery. OK, maybe a lot. But, if you like it, my job is accomplished. OK, Let's see what we can see over the sea! (I really gotta stop doing that) Oh, and I just got some new info- Chris's eyes are actually hazel and the name for Jake's occupation is an Elementist. Just wanted you to know!

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"C'mon! You don't mean it! It's not that bad! " The team was attempting to get a boat. The sea was rough, just as the weather. " Oh man, why the heck won't some old guy let us give him some money? All we wanted was a boat for six people! I mean, REALLY!" Jake said as they walked away. No one wanted to lend them a boat, one because the weather was bad and two because no boats were big enough for a Lynx.

"We have to build one," Chris suggested. Everyone else agreed. Joe assigned each person to a job. Joseph and Zach were to get animal carcusses for the sail. Jake went to get wood and Chris went into the town to get some rope to tie everything together. Joe was going to train to Blurasp to use it's tail as a motor. Now I'll tell you about what happened.

The team all split up. Joseph and Zach headed toward the hills on the northern side of town. Jake set off southwest, and Chris headed into town. Joe and Blurasp stayed where they were, at the base of the town in the east. The weather warmed as Joseph and Zach headed toward their destination.

"Nothing that I can see," Zach said to Joseph. " Me either. Keep your eye out," He answered. As you most likely know, the two-some was hunting for animal skins. " Wow, this sucks. I hate hunting," Joseph told Zach. Zach said he was completely different. He loved hunting, so this made him feel like he was at home. Then over a small hill came an Imp. A white imp. If you want to know, an imp is a monster with long, crouching legs and long clawed legs. They have pointed chins and pointed ears with some short hairs. Their eyes are yellow and black. Then again, looking at it, they weren't. No, this color was none other then what Joseph and Zach had been dreading deep down.

Then many of the same creatures came crawling across the hillside. " Shoot!" said Zach. " I don't have a gun!" Joseph screamed. " Wow, your really stupid. Just run!" They started running. The imps kept coming. There were thousands of them. " Oh my gosh! How long can we run, and how much room to run do we have?" Joseph asked, although more of a statement. "I don't know. Wait- there's a steep hill. We can't possibly climb it. Unless there's a glitch in the system of this crazy game, we won't make it. Joseph, get a pair of phoenix wing out of my bag, along with pixie dust and snake coil." Joseph did as he was asked, but it was hard while they were running. " Oh, get a bowl out, too. And a potion bottle." Joseph did so, giving the things to Zach in the order he asked. A glowing glider-like thing came out of the bowl- three of them. Zach grabbed one and said, " Liqcufy!" and it turned into a liquid and fell into the potion bottle ( Liqcufy's not really a spell, it's more of an alchmist specialty).

The glider-like things had two phoenix wings on top of them. They were glistening with pixie dust, and had snake coils to hold the two hero's in. "Give me one, quick!" Joseph commanded. Zach handed him one and told him to get in it. They both did, and they started floating high into the air. "What about the animal carcasses?" Zach asked. " What about our lives!" Joseph exclaimed. They decided to head for the harbor, where Joe was.

" Earth!" Jake said. He was in a forest he found on the edge of town, opposite of the Forest of Lynx. He was, as you know, collecting wood for the boat. " Why couldn't Chris come with me? He could help me by using a sword. Wow, is this hard." He had a big bunch of trees over his head, glowing yellow. He had use his levitating ability, Levise, to keep them above his head. He then heard a loud drilling noise. He turned around. There stood a dragon-like creature. The difference between this and a dragon, though, was that this had drills instead of claws. And it's tail was horrible. It was like a chainsaw, but it was letting out sparks. Blue sparks. It started toward Jake. He ducked, but the impact never came. Instead, it jumped up and started drilling the wood. " I know what you doing! Help, please! Anyone!" Then it happened.

The wood fell. It was coming toward Jake. He rolled and it missed him- barely. He jumped to his feet. The drill dragon went up to the pile of wood that almost fell on Jake. It drilled a piece of wood into a long snowboard. It jumped on it, and then it... "What the heck? It's just pretending!" Jake walked over to the creature. He looked at it. It looked at him. It was then that Jake realized this wasn't any drilling dragon. This thing was possessed. It had blue eyes. It then lunged at him. Jake dodged by falling over backward. He looked around for something to use, anything. It only took about two seconds to find something. He saw the snowboard that the beast had used for playing pretend. He decided he would use that as a last resort.

Then it was his turn. He attacked using a mega version of earth, Earthan. Pillars of earth came out of the ground, one after another. The drilling dragon tried running toward Jake. It dodged one coming up to the left, then it jumped backward because one was coming up under it. It went right then tripped. It got up, but as it did, another pillar came up under it. It fell down from the pillar. Then another one came up and hit it in the chin. It flipped over and started sailing downward again. Then it did something Jake forgot it could do. It spread out its wings and flew.

"Now would be a good time to use my last resort, wouldn't it be," Jake said to himself. It flew toward him and he brawled then rolled and got up. It turned around in the air and went for him again. Jake jumped then he spun around diagonally and landed. He ran over the snowboard. He then cast two spells on it. Levise and Unertia. Unertia enabled the board to move forward, backward, left, right, up, and down. A perfect mix of spells for a hoverboard in medieval times. He jumped on it and leaned forward, away from the drilling dragon. Now the Chase was on.

It was coming up behind him- fast. He was in the sky now, right out in the open. The gap between him and the beast was getting smaller. It reached out. Jake descended. He got into the trees. He had to do anything he could to maneuver. He was coming to a dead end- A line of trees so close together you couldn't get through them. Right now, above Jake, there were leaves and branches, all living. Yet looking at the trees blocking his way, he realized the branches were thin and leafless. Dead. This brought up a possibility. " I gotta' go through them," He thought. Once he was almost touching the tree, he shifted his weight to his back. Then the tip of the board pointed straight up. That's been he went. He stopped then went back to being horizontal. The beast followed him. It came up under Jake and attacked.

The board broke in half, and Jake started falling. The Beast flew down after Jake, to bring in the final blow. Then he became shrouded by a beam. A mix of dark and light it brought him towards the two people it was coming from. They were just there, in midair. Instead of a book or a wand, they had swords to expel magic from. " Were you the ones who saved us before?" asked Jake. The two people were still. He lay there, in midair, in front of two cloaked figures. One in a green cloak, one in brown. Jake tried to look at their faces. He stared for a moment, and then a weird sensation came over him. He looked at him self, and the things around him. Then came a blur. It changed from the scenery in the sky to scenery on land. Jake looked back into the sky. He saw the two figures glanced at him, then disappeared into the sunlight. Jake looked to the sky and said to himself, " Thank you."

Then he walked away into the forest.

Chris was walking through town, looking for a shop that sells rope. He had decided to not ask directions, for as soon as he walked into town, people had started starting at him. Finally he found a Hiking Shop, which he supposed would have ropes in it. He walked in and started looking around. Then, as he walked up to a scruffy man that looked to be working there to ask if there were any ropes, the man did something extremely weird. He screamed then ran out of the shop. " That was weird," Chris said as he started walking through the store yet again. But some one answered, and in a familiar voice, too.

" I know," said the voice. " WAIT! YOU'RE HERE!" screamed Chris. " What, is that a bad thing?" said the boy, a little ticked off. " Chet, what's going on here? What are you doing?" Chris asked his friend. " Looking for you," said Chet, " There are wanted posters up everywhere in Kealato. One for you and your group, one for-" Just then, they heard a person speaking, " There! One of them is in there!" All of a sudden, the door came crashing down. Chet moved back, as did Chris.

Chet was a warrior, a master of the axe. He had light blond hair, cut in a crew cut, and light white skin. What he was wearing was a red helmet with horns, along with a red iron vest, red tights and. He was about the same size as Joseph, but maybe a bit shorter. He was into things like camping and cars. But you could really tell that he would be a warrior. He had all the status to be one. " Good," Chris said as he thought of all that.

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**Joebushy-** Hey. I was going to keep going on this chapter, but, unlike chunkypuff3, I'm pretty good at cliffhangers (or so I think)! Oh, and this hasn't been spell checked completely, but it'll happen. Five Soldiers, up next. 


	6. Five Soldiers and Five Thousand Imps

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 6**

**Joebushy-** Well, What do you think happens to Chris and Chet Next? You'll soon find out! Please RR!

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Five armored soldiers stood in the doorway, spears in hand. The wooden floor seemed to even be scared, and the other customers in the shop were cowering behind anything they could find. "What did you and your friends do to our leader? Our mayor, our ruler!" said one of the soldiers. " We didn't do it!" said Chet. " Yeah, Chet, we did. Well, actually Joe did," stated Chris. "We have orders to capture you. We have the right to kill you, but we wish for you to enter the Derit castle Fighting tournament. Now get your friends and meet us at the dock." Now I will remind you, the team was there anyway.

The two were handcuffed and lead out. The stone street was getting dark because the sun was setting. As it did, the sun turned a light shade of red. " We're supposed to meet them at the docks anyway, " said Chris to a really beefy looking solider. " Keef' nooving. shut uuf'. You mus' lead us toof' 'em," he said with the kind of voice that was mostly only used by people with to big of a face to speak correctly. "He's not just beefy, he's corny," Chet said to Chris. They were being led toward the docks, where they suspected all the team was. They turned a corner out of the city and started walking. The path from the town of Exemap to the harbor was a place where the trees had been cut down; meaning around them was all trees. It was an opening sort of thing. Now the team of two would of fought, but remember, they're like, eleven and twelve years old and these soldiers are like... solider age.

When they walked up to the dock they could only see Joe, standing there with his back to them, still trying to teach Blurasp how to use it's tail as a motor. The dock was stone, like most things on the island of Exemap. The harbor had no buildings, and the ground between the end of the path and the dock was packed down dirt. A skinny solider walked up to Joe, followed by two really muscular guys. The skinny solider grabbed Joe's shoulder and turned him around. He didn't seem surprised. " You smoke?" Joe asked. " No," said the solider. " Now you do." There was a splashing noise, then the solider started steaming. He grabbed his head then knelt down. He and his suit evaporated into a puff of smoke. Joe spoke into the smoke, " Thanks Zach," and a boy wearing an orange hooded cloak over his black pants walked out. He had an empty potion bottle in his hand. " Yep," Zach said.

The two muscular men didn't know what happened. They were just as stupid as a waffle. " Duh... da' ya' know wha' happen?" said the one on the left. " Me no no!" said the other. They started backward. There were now four soldiers left. One of them started whispering to the others. After the little meeting, the main battle started. The muscular ones charged forward, while the other two leapt high into the trees. The beefy one landed on a really big branch and the normal size solider landed on a small one.

The buff ones where almost ready for impact. There was a small metal clinking sound. The soldiers had forgotten about Chris and Chet. Zach had gone over to Joe, and the two were ready for battle, Blurasp standing behind them. Then a pillar of earth came up in front of the charging soldiers. Then another, more and more. So many that there became a circle around them. They tried pushing forward. No use. " Hey stupids!" said a voice from the top of one of the pillars, " I wanna' see how tough you are. Bring it on boys! Or, at least whatever gender you are."

The soldiers got all red in the face. The pillar wall came down. The men kept going. And Jake, who had said the words from atop the pillar, stood in front of the two beefy soldiers. " Hey, how'd ya' like that, huh? Huh!" Jake asked sarcastically " Must now hurt you!" said the solider on the right, or now, after some rearranging, in the front. They started forward toward Jake in a run, then in a charge. They stopped in front of him. " Now!" they both said simultaneously. Nothing happened. " Come out now, snesky weskys!" Still nothing happened. They looked back. Two figures lay on the ground. Both with spears through them, armor punctured. " Ut-oh..." they said. Then they turned back around. No longer was Jake there. Because he had been replaced by a warrior. Chet strike had extreme power. He jumped high into the air, then swung his axe straight down onto the unsuspecting soldiers. He was just A red blur, with a sharp axe. The soldiers never stood a chance.

Joseph and Chris came down from the trees to see it all. Once it had all settled down, Chet walked over to Joe. " Mind if I join you?" Now everyone went everywhere, so the team wasn't as limited in the battles. Joseph and Zach brought the team to the imp hill. The landscape there_was_extremely grassy, and there were almost no rocks. But then, _was_ is a different word than _is._

Since Joe needed the exercise, he was giving his lynx a rest by walking. " Hey, Imps, come on out!" Joseph said. There was a loud rumble. . And it wasn't quite imps. The imps had mutated. They're once skinny bodies where now as big as a lynx. Their arms and legs were extremely big. The power held in one of those mutated imps could destroy a city- and a group could destroy a world. That's what had started here. The atmosphere was not grassy. It was all solid ground, with cracks and bumps everywhere. But that wasn't the half of it. The Imps started charging.

More and more came over the hills. Molten lava spewed out of the cracks in the earth. Little by little, a mountain was forming. The charging imps came to a halt near the team. The imps, who numbered so many they couldn't be counted, completely covered the hills. There was a stare down between the two groups. " We can't fight..." Joe said, " but we can try and run." The whole group turned around. To their horror, there were more imps behind them. " Then we have no choice, " Jake said, " We have to fight." Joe jumped onto Blurasp. The team jumped off to five different sides, all but Joe and Blurasp. Joe had an Idea. " Star formation!" He called. Blurasp roared. The fight was on.

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**Joebushy:** Well, lets see what Joe's strategy is. Oh, and I believe Chet has Green eyes. Anyway, please review. 


	7. The End of a Friend

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 7**

**Joebushy- **O.k., I'm sorry. " For what?" You might ask? Well, Chunkypuff3 adventures much more then me. Joe's team has been on Exemap this whole time. Well, forgive me, but to bad. We will leave the island in this chapter (Here that, Jake!). But all won't leave... (Oh and the team have to yell to talk to each other, because they are in the star formation).

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" This is the only way!" Joe screamed to his friends, now in a five-point formation. " What do I do?" Chris asked as an Imp knocked him down. "Hold on- 'Heal!'" Joe answered, " O.K., Zach, use a weakening potion on them that way-" " There are to many!" Zach interrupted. " Wait," yelled Joseph, " Zach, do you still have that hang glider?" He answered with, " Yes of course." By now, the hill was many shades of Blue, red and green, the color of imps. 

Zach reached into his backpack. He took out a golden potion. " What's that?" Jake yelled to Zach. " A hang glider!" Zach answered. " It's not gonna' work!" Joe yelled to his friends, a little annoyed Zach would even try that. "Yes, it will!" Zach told Joe a little ticked that he doubted him so much. So Zach started a fight with words. "Joe, now you listen to me. Don't be a hero. That's our job. You, my friend, sit down out of the way and heal us. You can do nothing!" That statement flared Joe's temper. He tried to keep himself calm, but no such luck. " I... am not... **USELESS!**" Right then and there, not a green, but a red glow came about Joe. In a millisecond, flames erupted out of him. "Arg!" Joe fell to his knees. He then looked at Zach. His eyes had turned red- the whole socket. He got up, feeling full of power. The Imps started attacking his teammates. He looked at himself. His robes had turned red. He had red hair in the shape of fire. He had to do something. " This must be what happens when my anger level gets to high." He noticed he wasn't holding his staff. " Crap!" He said. His friends were in severe pain. They had put up a fight as the imps brought them down, though. " Oh no..." Joe said as he turned around. Blurasp had the bite marks of an imp in his side. " You had to push me, you oversized freaks. You had to!" Fire erupted from Joe's hands. He made a fist and pointed it at a group of imps.

A blast of fire came out of his hands. " Take this, you freaks!" As the fire burst out of his hands continuously, his friends, barely able to see, stare in awe. He was fighting as hard as he could. He wasn't just a healing mage. If he got mad enough, he was like a Flamist, a master of the fire arts. He punched with incredible speed. His fire fists flared at the enemies. Imps are fast creatures, especially if they're mutated. But Joe was faster. He got rid of all of them. He decided to burn all but ten of them. So, he shot flames from his hands to destroy them. Then he sat atop one of the hills and stared down at his friends. They were just lying there. Not moving the slightest bit. Even cavaliers and a blue lynx can be hurt sometimes. He didn't know why, but he started remembering things from the past few days, starting at his school. Then he remembered something he had seen on the news that fateful morning.

A news reporter had reported, " Vast disappearances have been happening across the continent, starting last night. New York City police confirm that they have no idea, nor do any other police, of what have been happening. We'll keep you updated." He then remembered placing the game in his system, just wanting to pass time. He guessed his partners on it that were all a blur were with him now. And there would probably be more. But he remembered landing on the island, and the blue-eyed wolves. Then he wondered, " Where on earth could John be?" And in fact, at this moment, John was traveling in the world of Kealato.

But what had happened? He was still flaming and red. Then he realized, " I need to calm down to get out of this state of madness, and to heal my friends. He thought of happy thoughts, thoughts of good things. He thought of how lucky he was to not be the only real person in this world, and how he was so lucky his friends were here. He then drifted off, with a smile on his face.

The next day, he woke up with a start. " Dad! Five more minutes!" he said. Then he looked around, only to realize he wasn't in bed, and his dad hadn't woken him up. He was lying on a freshly rock-covered hill, looking down on his friends. The morning light beamed on his face, making him warm and comfortable. The cracks that were just yesterday in the earth were now all but indents in the ground. It was like lying on a lumpy, grass-less plain. Ten imps were lying dead on one hill, while his friends lay in a small valley below. " I forgot!" he said. He looked at himself. " I'm not hot!" he said with enthusiasm. " Wait- oops..."

He walked down to his friends and looked at them. They just lay there so hopelessly. Joe felt so bad. He was being a hero. He walked over to Zach and sat down. " Sorry," Joe said, " but it's not my fault. I just get angry sometimes. It just happens, at certain times. I can only take so much. Any way, I've been wanting to try something." Joe was almost talking to himself. Zach had been knocked out by the imps the day before. Right now, at this time, It had been three days since Joe called John and got sucked into the game.

"Heal Team!" Joe tested. It started working, and green dust did come out of Joe's staff, but after looking around for a while, like a dog looking for it's owner, it went back into the staff. " I guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way!" Joe exclaimed. "Heal Jake! Heal Zach! Heal Joseph! Heal Chris! Heal Zach! Heal Blura-" Joe looked in the direction Blurasp had been laying. " But that's impossible. He couldn't heal himself. Wait- the imp bite. No!" The rest of the team stood up. " What happened?" Jake asked. " Joe, what'd you do!" Joseph asked. Then each person fired a question. Chris asked, " What's it like being a red head?" Zach then apologized, saying, " I didn't really mean what I said. Without you, we wouldn't even be a team. And you've always helped us out. So, still friends?" Joe lunged at Zach, screaming, "NO!" "What do you mean no! And why'd you do that, huh?" Just then, Blurasp lunged over the heads of Joe and Zach. " What's going on?" asked Joseph. " I think something's wrong with Blurasp. I saw the imp attack him yesterday. He had a mark on him- a glowing blue bite mark. I think he has the... um... sickness. He's one of them." Blurasp turned toward the team of six.

" We've got to get out of here." Jake said. Chris then said" We've been here to long. People are taking the legendary weapons for the wrong purposes. We have to leave, and soon." "But, what about my friend, my Blurasp?" Joe asked. Chet then spoke for the first time in a while, " Well, there is one thing we found about this world if nothing else. To stop this epidemic, there is no antidote nor spell. The only way is to kill. Get rid of the animal with it. We would kill an entire species just to stop it. We can't risk this. We just can't."

" Then, let's do it..." Joe said, with a sad tone. The team ran in, in a backward arrow formation. Joseph and Chris were on the ends. Zach and Jake were on the inside, and Joe was at the point. Chet was in the middle. Then Chet jumped high into the air, and he landed on a small hill. Chris and Joseph got out their swords and went in for the attack. They sliced one cut each on Blurasp. He roared with extreme fierceness. Joe tried and tried to calm Blurasp down, saying, " Get a hold of yourself, Blurasp! I don't want to leave you, I don't! You don't have to die, control it. Control it!" Blurasp roared. It looked at Joe. And then it charged. It was trying to stop itself with the little will power left in it. But it couldn't. Joe ducked on the ground, hands on his head. Then came the death of a friend.

Chet had to do it. With one swipe of his axe, a blue lynx died. It fell onto one side. And it lay there, looking from Chris, to Joe. To everyone else. Joe walked up to it and said, " Blurasp... we've done so much on this island. We've fought and we've won. We've found why we were put in this game- to save. To save the people. We still don't know all we can or should. But we know we couldn't have got past those bears without you. And I want you to know we are friends, no matter what. So, buddy good-bye, and thank you."

Blurasp looked hard at Joe. It's eye color died down, so maybe there could be a cure. " We can't heal him, Joe," said Jake. " I know..." said Joe, " But the problem is, he was like a best friend to me. Like you guys." Joe got on his knees and embraced his almost dead friend. Blurasp opened his eyes one last time. He looked at Joe and purred. Joe went over to his head. It licked him and a tear came out of one of its eyes. Then he closed his eyes... one last time. He lay there, unmoving. He wasn't in Kealato anymore. He wasn't anywhere. He would be in heaven, but he was just part of a game...

After that, Joe started acting differently. After seeing the death of his lynx, he realized he was in the game for a purpose. So did his friends. They were there to be defenders. And there was no more to defend in the city of Exemap.

So they got the wood and the rope with no problem. The afternoon sky was sunny, like a day in a park. The sun glimmered on the trees. The water glistened with light all through the day. Once they had a comfortable looking raft, they cooked the meat form the ten left over imps. It turned out; it tasted just like steak. Jake made a looking sack out of something that was called myno leaves, to keep the imp meat in for the journey. He said that they worked as good cups and water purifiers. It was a three-day Journey, after all.

So they hopped on the crude looking raft they had built and set sail. They had with them a tent (The one that Joe met Chris and Joseph in), a blanket, and mountain climbing equipment. Each person had the weapons or items they needed for their occupation. Zach had his alchemist items to make potions with. Jake had his wand. Joseph and Chris had their spears and swords. Joe had his staff and Chet had his Axe. Nothing much happened during their three day trip. One time Joseph got so board, though, he decided he wanted to be alone. So, he pushed everyone off the boat. Then one time Joe got seasick after a wave hit the raft. Three days later, when they were almost there, Jake told the group something.

" Guys, you've got your calculations wrong. Yes, it is a three day trip to the mainland, but Helioa is way up in the mountains. Ya' know, _The Mountain Town of Helioa_. Yeah. The first town we his is the main port town, Neasmil." " Oops..." said both Joseph and Chris. " I like how the sail looks..." Joe said. He had been waiting to say that for a while, but between eating and talking, he hadn't had time. He said it because it was made with the three colors of imp carcass.

" It's huge!" Chet said later that day. The team went to one side of the boat and looked out. The Kealato mainland was before them. " I don't know about you guys, but there is one thing I know," Joe said. " Yeah?" asked Joseph. " Exemap was only the beginning.

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**Joebushy:** To all my fans (If there are any), You're lucky. I live in the Northeast of the USA, and we had a big snowstorm, so I had two days off school to write this. That's why it's so long. Anyway, If you know what happens in day nine of the original story (A Tale of Many an Adventurer by chunkypuff3), then you kind of know the concept of day nine in mine. Please review! 


	8. The Port Town of Neasmil

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 8**

**Joebushy- **Whoever said mist can't be purple lied. Just like they may have said bears can't have arrows sticking out of their bodies also lied. Whoever said I can eat 10 pies non-stop really lied. Badly. Anyway, on to the city of Neasmil!

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Joe and his friends were still on their crude looking raft, heading toward Neasmil. It wasn't all made of rock, as was Exemap, but it was more wood. Wood, rock, and whatever else might be used to build a midevil house. The town was perfectly normal. But then again, didn't blurasp look normal when he died? But, in any circumstance, looks can be deceiving. 

The town, unlike Exemap, was peaceful. Children could be seen from the dock, just playing games on the sidewalks. As the heroes landed, A few helpful looking men came over to help unload the little stuff they had ( Well, actually, they only helped with the tent, but that's all the extra stuff the team had). " What a nice place, what a nice atmosphere!" Chris exclaimed in a fake- happy voice. " What's on your mind?" asked Jake." Well, we came here for legandary weapons, and there were none on Exemap..." Chris answered. "Yeah, so?" Jake said. " It's just to peaceful here. I may not be a mind reader, but I sence something fishy going on here..." Just then, Chet reached into the ocean and pulled out a fish, and said, " Yeah me to. I'm real hungry!"

Everyone there was so happy. Neasmil could almost take the slogan _The Happist Place on Earth_ from Disneyland. Everyone would just walk up to other people asking if they needed help. " Yeah. This is fake-happy," stated Chris later that day as they were sitting in their newly pitched tent. They had set the tent along the grass in a forest just outside of town. To get there, the heroes had to cross town. But it seemed to peaceful. Scary peaceful. All of the people smiled, no, grinned at them as they walked through town. " Neasmil had alot of robberies last time I was here," Joseph said, looking into the face of a grinning kid and jumping do to being freaked out. Joe seemed surprised by this comment. " Oh, yeah. Come to think of it, I don't know how you guys got here. Maybe you can tell me at the tent."

So, after Chris said about the freaks, they started their stories. First came Joseph's. He said it started in the morning of nine days ago. He saw the news report on the dissapearences, so he told his mom.

" As I was saying," Joseph started, " I told my mom about it. She asked me if anyone in our town had dissapeared. I didn't think so, but I didn't know for sure. Now, though, I know everyone that is here dissapeared that afternoon. So, I got my stuff ready and I started walking over the hill by my house to school. It had been a warm January day, about sixty degrees. The grass had an abnormally amount of dew on it, and when I got to school, I was soaked. Once I got to school I hurried to the bathroom to dry off, where I passed Chris getting a drink of water. Then, after I got dried off and went to class, the day went normaly until social studies, and I think that you guys in my class, Joe and Chris, saw it, too."

Chris then thought of something. " I remember that," he said. Joe did, too. " Yeah, that glow out of the computers. But other people saw that, too." Zach , Jake, and Chet looked at each other. Chet said to the three in the other class, " We saw it, too. But not just us. Alot of other boys, including John, Brad, Chris ( the other one), and Kevin. " Can I finish my story?" Joseph asked his friends.

"O.K., enough said. That was that, enough about school. That was all that happened there. It all started about the time I got home. My grandma had just brought me out to the pizza parlor in town, so I was pretty full. I went up to my room to lay down and watch TV for a while. I didn't intend to be up there long, but since my mom wasn't there and my Grandma was reading a book in the living room, I just had to wait it out. I didn't know It would be a while till I saw her again. So, I had just been watching TV for a while when I heard a voice. I didn't know where it came from, so I supposed the TV station I was watching had a mistake. So, I changed the channel, and I found an interesting thing, which was how radio waves work."

" And your telling us this why?" Zach asked Joseph. " Because this is he I got here!" Joe scolded Zach. " I wasn't asking you," Zach said to Joe. Joseph started talking again. " Well, Joe's right. Anyway, the room then went black just as I was watching the radio wave program. All the power went out, and I felt as though the world was imploding. I felt as though my bed was lifting away from under me. I starting spinning uncontrollably. Then I landed on a mountain, near Helioa."

This surprised the whole group. " Wait... it would of takin' you more than seventeen days to get to Exemap! But that's impossible!" Joe exclaimed. " Maybe... just maybe... The time here must go faster than the time on earth!" Zach thought aloud. Eveyone agreed. " Our parents must really be worried..." Chris said with sadness. " It's O.K." Jake said. " We were definatly put here for a purpose," Joseph said. " But let me talk! "So, I fell down the mountain. From the top. The very top. That night I found myself in the medical building, with someone over me. He- or she- didn't say a word. Then the person walked out. I got up to just fall down again. I looked at myself, and I noticed I was wearing armor. I had a sword in it's seith, and lying in my bed was a lance. I thought I must be a cavalier, a soilder. It was the coolist feeling. So, after I noticed that, I got up, no problem."

" Then what?" asked Chet. " Well, " Joe said with a smirk, " I decided to see who the person was, so I went outside. The person ran around the corner, and I never saw him- or her- again. Then I started traveling, not knowing where to go-" " Go back a little," Jake said. " Oh, I never saw the person again." " What? " Jake said, " Of course you did." Joseph had a look of awe on his face. " Thanks..." He told Jake. Then he finished up his story; " Wow. That came unexpectedly. Anyway, then, a little into Helioa, I saw a shop. I figered that this being a mountain region, I would have to climb to get anywhere. So, in the middle of the night still, I walked up to it. A man came out and asked me what I wanted. I said climbing equipmen. He then told me that I must be strong to be going onto the mountains with no potions or anything, so then I thought. Then an Idea came to me. I told him how I didn't think I even knew how to use my weapons properly. He gasped at me and then he called for someone. A sword and lance warrior came out and walked up to me. " What chu' nee'" He had asked. I stared at him in awe. He had green armor, and he was completely immence."

"After some talking ( That I had only done to hear his voice", we set into the mountains. He was bringing me to a port town, just outside Neasmil." Joe asked him, "Why not go to Neasmil?" Joseph answered with, " It _was_, at the time, pretty much_ evil_. But why It's so happy now I dont know. So, Once we got to that town, It was flooded. " No reason why, so i don' know why chu' don't just get on a bo' and leave?" So, I grabbed some food in the water then swam out and got on a boat, and just sailed off. I didn't know where to go, or where I was going. Then, three days later, I landed on Exemap, just to find Chris." Chris then made a mathmatical announcement, " Then you've been here for almost twenty-six days!" " Yeah, " Joseph answered, "I have."

"Right when I saw Chris, he ran over to me and told me his story," "Which I'll tell next," Chris finished. " Whatever," Joe said, " Can Joseph finish his story now, please?" Joseph continued his story, " So, we figured with us being in this world, which Chris told me was Kealato, we figured more people would be coming. Or at least the ones that saw the glow on the computers." "Wait- Amit saw the glow, too," Jake said. " Yeah, so did Jude..." Joe said. " It's possible..." Zach said. " I think we know what they've been up to," Chet said. " Me too" Joseph agreed.

" Anyway, We set up a tent. Then we went looking for anyone on the island. We were on the top of the mountain, Joe, when you stumbled nine days ago. We came down and we hit those wolves with all we had. We did see their eye's Joe. But you had just gotten into this show-" "Game," Joe corrected. " What on Kealato do you mean?" Joseph asked. " I got here through a game, Joseph." Joe answered. Chet butted in, although, he did have a good point; " That brings up another question, which is, how are all the ways we got in here connected?" " Nothing about that now." Jake said. Joseph was just about ready to finish up.

"So, after we saved your butt really bad, We brought you back to the tent. Then you woke up and-" " There's Purple mist everywhere!" A townsman came in, looking like he had a computer virus. He was almost being cloned in front of their eyes, but it was more of a shadow-type creature comeing in and out of him. He stumbled back out side, and the team followed. The man fell on his knees, looking almost identacal to the fallen soilder the team had fought three days ago. He fell onto his right sholder and fainted. But where he had just been knelt another being. A three dementional shadow. The light that reflected off it made it look as though it had purple streaks on it to show lines. Joe walked out infront of the team. He stared into the town of Neasmil. It was completly mutating. The buildings were haveing purplish mutations. The people were doubling. " This is even worse than Exemap!" Zach yelled over the screaming...

...From his teammates. "What... what is this?" Zach asked himself. Just then, he felt as though his heart was being punctured by an icepick. He gasped for air that wouldn't come. He fell backwards and closed his eyes for what felt like a secound... And then he opened them. It seemed the team had all woke up at the same time. " What the heck?" Chet said. They all got to their feet. " It's cold..." Chris said. " I feel like I was just hit in the head," Joseph told everyone. They were all a bit wobbly, but what came next they thought was a nightmare. The shadowy townspeople were attacking them.

The townspeople, the normal ones, were getting up the same time as the team. " Happy. Happy. Happy." They repeated this as though they where robots. They where still happy, even with the purple mists' destruction and the dark shadow people terrorizing the town. Team was looking from the town to the shadows. " What evil being could of done this..." Chet asked himself. Just then, the team realized their weapons were gone. " We can't defend!" Jake exclaimed. Joe was even more worried. They were done for. They couldn't even fight. And the shadow's where closing in. Then, they attacked.

**Joebushy:** I hope you like this chapter. All I do now is work on writing this. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. So now, from chapter 1 through chapter 8, I only have two reviews. I ask you, in the name of Kealato, to PLEASE review! I want to know what I need work on. My only reviews are from people I realy know, searo and chunkypuff3, so read their stories, to. Oh, Chris just turned 12, so he is no longer 11 ( no duh).


	9. Shadows ajar

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 9**

**Joebushy-** I'm running out of things to say here. Joe's team got off the island. Joseph told his story to everyone, then a man came in with a virus-type thing. The team went outside, saw purple mist, then fainted. Shadow people cloned out of everyone. The team woke up and they attacked. Oh, and look at this wording. _They attacked._ Just read, Ok? And for more stuff about purple mist and Helioa, refer to _A Tale of Many an Adventurer_ by Chunkypuff3. Thanks.

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The team ducked. They were waiting for the shadow people, for the impact. But, power of a mage and a druid stopped the attack. Then they attacked back. " Well, there they are..." Zach said in awe. Jake noticed something different so he pointed. " Wait- they look different. Look at their style of fighting. Remember how the dark and light magic came out of their swords before? Well, look. Their swords are in their seethes. The magic is from their hands. I guess they need to say words, though." 

Amit and Jude were muttering words, or, at least, it looked like it. Their hoods made them look different. You could only see their hoods slightly move and assume they were talking. But, since that was what was happening, they looked like they were muttering. A druid, being Jude, was a master of dark magic. A mage, or, at least this mage, Amit, was a master of light magic. They gave the shadows sort of a scolding by Jude attacking first, empowering the shadows. Then Amit attacked, shocking the shadows. They all fell to the ground. Little bushel of smoke started coming out of all of them. The smoke started to turn back into the purple mist, and then it went back to where it had just came.

The two magic users looked to be taken aback. The group of shadows kept getting larger in numbers. More kept coming to join the group of the dark beings. " Thanks, guys, but now its our turn!" Joe said to Amit and Jude. Joe brought the team into battle. " Now, you guys listen here. All of you fight but Zach. Him and I will go into town and get potion bottles. Now Zach, do you have any restoring potions?" " Of course I do!" Zach told him. " Leave them here," Joe, said to him, " so the rest of the team can use them." " Good idea," Chris complimented. The team spread out. Joe and Zach went off toward the town, while the others went into battle.

Joe and Zach were running at full speed. Once the shadows were behind them, Amit and Jude came and blocked their path. "Get out of our way!" Joe yelled at them. " No," Amit said simply. " What?" Zach asked with disbelief. " We can't let you pass." Jude told Zach. The two magic users had still never taken their hoods off. "Stop this! We need to get bottles to capture the purple mist in!" Joe told them as he tried to take a step. Amit moved to block his path. " Guys listen, ok? We _need_ to get these things," Zach told them as he tried crawling under them. Zach was much shorter then both Amit and Jude. Jude was about the same size as Joe and Amit was between the sizes of Zach and Joe.

Joe had enough. He had told them off one to many times. His magic was useless in battle, so he threw a punch at Jude. Jude disappeared in an instant and reappeared to the left of where he had just been. He did it so fast that Joe's punch missed and he had time to grab it. Joe looked at him. He twisted Joe's arm and he fell over. Joe was clutching his arm in pain. Zach aimed a punch at Amit, but he ducked down and slide-kicked him so he tripped. Joe and Zach both lay there, unable to move. They felt completely paralyzed. " We have got to get to town and get those bottles!" Zach yelled to Joe, and with that they got up.

Amit and Jude still wouldn't take their hoods off. They could dodge almost anything Joe and Zach threw at them. The team members could tell their former friends were getting tired. Finally the fight turned around. " Hold them off!" Zach told Joe. He tripped both of them. He saw them glare at him as they got up. Light shimmered under their hood. Joe could see a blue glow from their eyes. " Oh hell no," Joe said. Amit punched Joe in the face. He flipped backwards and landed. " I didn't know I could to that..." he said to himself. After the punch, Amit ran toward Zach. Joe saw Zach take a swig of a red potion, and he immediately knew what it was. " Oh, you're in for it," he told Jude. " Yeah right." Jude threw an uppercut into Joe's stomach. He backed up a bit, not hurt much by the blow. He still, amazingly, had not dropped his staff. Zach came running to Joe's side.

He handed the red potion to Joe. "Have I used this before?" Joe asked Zach knowingly. " I believe so," said Zach very formally. Joe drank the potion. Zach nudged him after he was done and he fell to the ground. " Oops," Zach said. Joe felt as though he could lift a car. Zach and Joe attacked Amit and Jude. Zach kicked Jude on his left side, flinging him off to the right about a foot. Joe went straight in to a full assault. Amit didn't see it coming. Joe hit Amit in his stomach using his palm. Amit flinched. Then Joe put his two hands into fists and starting attacking Amit's torso furiously. Amit fell backwards onto the gravel filled street. Now Jude and Amit lay there. Joe and Zach, although still affected by the _strength potion_, were exhausted. But they still had work to do.

They ran into the deformed town. All of the buildings had other buildings growing out of them, deformed purple ones. Joe guessed the purple mist worked on buildings. They worked their way through the town. There was a dim amount of light from the moon, so just as well the buildings were silhouetted. The only color seen was the evil purple, which seemed to glow enough to be the same color in the day or night. The dark buildings ran along the gravel street. The people of the town were either leaned up agenst the buildings or sitting- either way, they were smiling. And they were singing, " Stay happy, don't be a fool. Stay happy, our shadows rule." Joe and Zach kept running, but they felt as though they where in a ghost town. The people where there, although they seemed to be like mummies. They almost seemed dead.

But now wasn't the time to worry about that. The potion and magic shop was right up ahead. Zach told Joe that they could get bottles in there. So they went in. It had been trashed. There was a hole in the roof. The darkness was immense. Maybe... " Heal team!" Joe yelled. The room was illuminated with a deep green glow. Joe's staff let the light out, and it started floating around. Quickly, Joe found a cloth and put it over his staff. That way, the light couldn't go back in. A few minutes later, the healing light tried to go back in, but since the cloth was there it couldn't. " The equivalent of a green flashlight!" Joe told Zach. " Good Idea!" he said back. Zach looked through the shop. He did find a few potion bottles, but that was because all the rest had broken. They decided agents using jars, as they were to hard to close after use. So, they found tubes. They found corks for closing everything. Then they went back into town.

At the end of the street stood Jude and Amit. Hoods off. Blue eyed. Amit's Indian-like skin on his face shimmered darkly with the blue glow. Jude's white skin on his face was almost completely illuminated. " I forgot to say that." Joe said to Zach, legs stuttering. Zach was in a fighting position. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a golden-yellow potion. "What's that?" Joe asked him, still nervous. " It needs refurbished! Hold them off again!" Joe looked at Zach seriously as he said this, " D'you have anymore strength potions?" " No. None." Joe looked hopeless. " I can't hold them off. And I am not mad. I'm more sad than angry. I can't go Flamist." Zach handed Joe one of his exploding potions. " Don't fight. Hold them off."

Meanwhile, the rest of the group wasn't doing to good. All the elixirs had been used up, and their attacks were dying down. "_Icena_!" Jake commanded. An uproar of hail and ice stormed over the shadows. Most all of them turned into the purple mist and back again. Joseph and Chris attacked with their spears. " We really need a legendary weapon!" Chris exclaimed. The misty shadows, too, were attacking furiously. First, the front line attacked. Always. Then the secondary line attacked. Always. Always the same. Never doing much else. Then the third line. Then the forth. Always. Never stopping. Something was wrong.

People started to awaken in the town. Awaken from a deep sleep. What had woke them? Was it just the time of day? Joe and Zach were still in the middle of the road. Staring down Amit and Jude. Joe was in front of Zach, preparing for an attack. Zach was refurbishing the hang-glider potion. Jude and Amit were just staring straight back at the two. Blue eyed. Joe and Zach never thought once about looking at was coming up behind them.

The city had been silent. Everyone who had awaked from their sleep had been quite. Not warning Joe or Zach. Not warning them about the arrow shooting toward Zach. Joe noticed it first. The arrow. He knew something was wrong from the start. Now he was sure. He got a hold of himself and jumped toward Zach, knocking them both to the ground. The arrow flew over the place where the two had just been... and split into two. The arrows went straight toward both Amit and Jude. But when the heads of the arrows were almost touching the tips of their noses, they both did back-flips, making the split arrows miss by inches. " What was that!" Zach asked Joe dumbfounded. " Get out of the way!" someone yelled. Joe and Zach looked behind them from their place from the ground. What they saw dumfounded them. There was a tall brown and black hair male. He had a familiar face. Beside him was someone else. A shorter brown hair male. The taller one had one of the longest swords the two had ever seen. The shorter one, who was holding a bow, must have fired the arrow.

The taller one's name was Taylor. He was wearing a dark green robe and brown sandals, and was holding a long-sword. He was the oldest sixth grader in their school, age 13 already. The other one, Ben, was wearing a metal vest. He had long jeans on and was holding a silver bow, and was about 12. Taylor's hair was a little bit messy. Ben's hair had a mushroom cut. They stood there looking so professional like. Then they walked up to Joe and Zach, one on either side. Taylor then asked the two, " What is goin' on here?"

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**Joebushy- **I'm still working out a few kinks, as in explaining the two new character attributes. Anyway, Taylor's a Myrmidon and Ben's an Archer. If any one wants John and Joe to team up in like a battle or something, I'm sure we can arrange it. Please, review. No flames. And give me places where there are errors. Ideas! Anything you think would make a good story. Thanks. 


	10. The Heroes and the Archriend

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 10**

**Joebushy- **Ben and Taylor will be the last of the new teammates in Joe's story. I have to leave some to John, too. Joe will see some new people, though. So, I hope you like my story, Read and Review!

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The shadows were closing in on the team of four. Joseph was now attacking furiously with his sword. Chris decided to stick to his lance. " If- we- only- had- the- Dukito- spear," he said in the middle of breaths. Zach and Joe now also had a team of four. Joe, Zach, Ben, and Taylor. Jude and Amit had ultimate power, unfathomable power. They wouldn't let Joe and Zach pass. The blue eyes they had were the source of the strength. They almost couldn't be beaten. Then Zach had an idea.

" I'll tell ya' what's going on here!" he told Taylor. " What?" Taylor asked back. " Go for the eyes." The four split up, making a long line, all facing the blue-eyed humans. Ben shot an arrow and Taylor went in for attack. Joe backed them up. Zach stammered backwards so he could work on the potion. Amit and Jude got out their swords. A classic Midlevel clash. Taylor attacked furiously. Ben shot an arrow almost every ten seconds. Taylor's slashes did nothing. Ben's arrows disappeared into the two's bodies. Amit and Jude couldn't be hurt; but could hurt back. Joe had to heal almost simultaneously. But even he was to slow. Zach threw him an exploding potion, taking a break from his work. " Joe- we're getting tired!" Ben said. Taylor nodded.

" I'll give you a break!" Joe told the two. He threw the exploding potion over Amit and Jude, bottle and all. The flesh blew off their bodies. What was left wasn't their insides. It was a glowing blue mass. It seemed to be a liquid and a solid at the same time. It looked wet, but it was keeping its shape. But it was like even more strength had just gone into the two. All was blue. You couldn't even tell it was Amit and Jude- for a second. The pounded skin came back onto the humans- or whatever they had become.

" It must've been recent," Taylor told everyone as the two were reforming. " How do you know that?" Zach asked him from a distance. Taylor began to answer, but as though they were meant not to know, There was an explosion from where the other four where.

Joseph, Chris, Chet, and Jake had had an idea. If nothing would work, get rid of them like trash. Bury them. Jake would use a water attack, _flowater_, to make the soil beneath them murky. Chet, Joseph, and Chris would attack as fact as they could, making some of them mist. Jake would push them down using _magield_ and _Eytimener_, making a solid shield move into the muck. The shield would stay there, and Joseph and Chris would rub their swords together to make sparks over the shield. Then the shield would be supercharged with electricity. The shadows wouldn't get out- and the ones that tried would turn back into mist and be electrified. The perfect plan. But, when Chris and Joseph started seeing who was making the better sparks, things had go out of control...

... Making the second shield that Jake had made explode. " Get over there!" Zach yelled from the place in the city. They ran from Amit and Jude. They had to go the opposite direction. Through the dark town on a detour. They turned around. The darkness of night made the city impossible to see in. They had to go into the darkness. Anything could be in there. Anyone. But, it was the only way. The shadows might have been attacking already. The four didn't have a choice.

So they turned around and ran. Taylor was the fastest, but he waited for the others. It was pitch black. Could Amit and Jude be sneaking up on them? They didn't know. They just ran, all in a horizontal line, just in case anyone saw anything. Then came a maniacal laughter. Only laughter a madman could have. Or less then a man. A laugh from a fiend, an undead, a soul-less. " Ben looked scared. He must have just entered Kealato. But no time for that. They had to play the game and play it right. Not waste time.

The source of the laughter seemed to be coming from right of them. There was no road, so they went into the building nearest. It was mostly normal. Nothing wrong. So they walked out. Joe and Zach looked at their two new teammates. Taylor was over six feet tall. He was most definitely the most athletic person in the grade. Ben, like all the people who had come into the game, had gained a lot of status. He was shorter then everyone on the team, all but Zach. Maybe he had been in the game longer then Joe thought. He was taller now that he thought about it... Oh well.

Joe and the team arrived at another intersection. Joe realized that, besides rain, the weather here never much changed. The intersection was probably warm all year. No glistening snow. The city was still covered in purple mutations. Clones of the " originals. Then Joe thought of something. " Where you guys here when the mist came?" Joe asked them. " Yeah," Ben said. "It hurt a lot, I don't know why," Taylor said. " We have to get back to the rest of the team," Zach said, thinking the same thing as Joe. " We all were doubled, too. And when we find us, I don't know what'll happen," Joe said. The other three looked at him confusedly.

They started running left. Then they took another left. They ran through a deserted street, even by purple mist standards. Near the end of the street, they felt a slight breeze. They all stopped, because there had been no breeze that night. They looked around. "Heal Team!" Joe yelled. A green glow illuminated the street. A mist was coming from the sky. More purple mist. All purple mist. That's all it was about.

But this was different. The detail was immense, of people they knew. But no one they had seen so far. Before them stood Shadow John, Shadow Chris, Shadow Brad, and Shadow Kevin. John was holding a wand, shadow like everything else. Brad had a bow and arrow, and had an arrow quiver on his belt. Chris had a horned helmet and an axe, and Kevin had a backpack full of potion stuff. " Those aren't the one's we know, are they?" asked Taylor in a quivering voice. " No," Zach said, gulping. They noticed a chunk missing off Kevin's side. " Weird..." Ben said.

John ran up to Joe. " Down you," He said. " W-what?" Joe asked with a small stutter. John and his team attacked Joe, Taylor, Ben, and Zach. Chris went agenst Taylor. Taylor was a few inches taller, though. John and Brad went agenst Joe and Ben. Kevin went agenst Zach. A fight of friends. One group real, the other fake. A real hassle. Taylor started attacking Chris as fast as he could.

**Joebushy-** I'm not done with this chapter quite yet. I just wanted to tell you that, if you read the original story, the shadow Chris is one of John's partners. Thanks!

He slashed with his sword as hard as he could. Taylor couldn't let shadow Chris beat him. He had to save the others. Chris was much slower with his huge axe. Taylor could almost always out move him. But when Chris did strike, Taylor's sword got a little bit flimsy. The power was even too much for a long sword. But that hardly ever happened. Speed out did the power.

Joe and Ben weren't doing as good. Brad was just as powerful as Ben, if not stronger. John could use extreme magic. He was even stronger then an Elementist. Ben had to fight them both, being healed by Joe. But it hardly did any damage. Brad and John weren't just attacking Ben. Joe had to heal himself, too. It was becoming hectic. Shadows Brad and John wouldn't give up.

But Zach and shadow Kevin were equal. Zach and Kevin were both alchemists. One threw an exploding potion, so did the other. Zach threw a hardening potion in the same way as a kick would go, which of course hardened in the air, tripping Kevin. Kevin got up and did the same.

There was another explosion. More and more shadows were assaulting the other four. " What a headache!" Jake said. The shadows wouldn't stop. Then they started forming together. A giant human. Something less then a human. The shadows were forming a nightmare.

The nightmare was less then what Joe had to go through, though. Because Zach had one thing Kevin didn't. The makeshift hang-glider. He told Taylor to trip Kevin, buying some time. Right when Taylor did, He got out his glider potion and poured it out. " This can only hold two people!" Zach told the team, having to yell do to distance, " Joe and Taylor, run. Ben and I got the glider." Taylor tripped the other three shadows, and Ben ran to Zach, who was already holding the glider. Then it hit them. No wind. They couldn't escape.

Joe started yelling, hoping it would work. " Jake! Jake! Use a wind attack! Zach and Ben _need_ help!" Nothing happened. " He can't hear you, idiot." That hadn't come from a teammate. It had been a dark mans voice. All four turned around. There was a man with an extremely evil face- on one side. The other side had a metal plate. He had long white hair and Evil eyes. He had two stubby white horns coming out of his head. He was wearing a dark black shirt and black pants. He had a red shoulder band from his left shoulder down to the bottom right of his shirt. And he had a diagonal leg band, also red, on his left leg.

But that wasn't it. He had long, red, thick horizontal spikes on his arms, and vertical ones on his legs. But the two objects that made him most beast like were horrible. These made him what he was. Two huge, red wings coming out of his back, for starters. But they were nowhere near angel wings. They were the wings of a red fire dragon. Or, otherwise, a Dragofi. His weapon was a long sword, like Taylor's. But this man's sword was stained with blood. Luckily, though, he had it in his seethe.

He then spoke for the second time. " I am Naraf, leader of all darkness in Neasmil. All evilness here comes from me. Many heroes have tried to stand up to me, but all have failed- and died. I was once like you- foolish young people from_ Earth._" Naraf laughed an evil laugh. The team stepped back, but didn't dare run. " S- so, you were from E-Earth?" Zach said, stuttering. " Humph. Yes, I am. Such a foolish profile I keep. The Neasmil lord of darkness from the planet Earth in another dimension. I want Earth destroyed! It has caused me so much pain!" Ben decided now or never to ask a question. " But... but... what are you?" Naraf looked amused. " Me? I am the ruler of the Neasmil darkness, an abandoner from Earth, the evilest of evil. I am Naraf, archfiend of Neasmil!"

" But- you can't destroy earth!" Joe said, going back to the subject. " Oh, I know." He said. Taylor was feeling braver, or at least brave, and said, " Then what's your point? You can't destroy earth from Kealato. They're separate worlds, in separate dimensions." Naraf looked more amused then ever. " I know that, insolent fool. But I can affect it. I can destroy what keeps it alive. I can destroy people!" He looked like a madman. His hands were out, palms up, fingers up, and he was maniacally laughing. He then said one more thing. " And do you know what that means? I _will_ kill you. Right here. Right now. Ha ha ha ha ha. You four are about to leave Kealato. And your lives!" After those words, Naraf attacked the four heroes.

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**Joebushy-** Hey, guess what? Stubborn Chunkypuff3 says he will no longer be writing his story. Not a big deal, right? Well, whatever. You're wrong. Who wants the other side to an unfinished story? No one! And he won't let me take the original name! please, for my sake, beg him to either continue or let me change my story title! (Please Review. I need punctuation remark, misspellings, mistakes, anything. It's appreciated!) 


	11. It's Not Called Home Anymore

**A Tale of Many an Adventure- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 11**

**Joebushy-** I've been talking about only Joe lately. What about Chris, Jake, Joseph and Chet, Huh? Here's what happened to them.

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Jake had tried the strategy again. But, like before it misfired. The electric charged shield had yet again blown up. Now the shadows were approaching again. The shadows that were cloned from the humans of Neasmil by the purple mist. The four didn't have time to think. The shadows must've sped up their assault. They all started clamping onto the heroes, one by one. Chris and Joseph were swinging blindly, there were just to many of them. Chet wasn't as careless as Joseph and Chris, but he was close. He would look around in a second, then the next be swinging madly. Jake couldn't think but to use element combos.

A few were _icena_ and _Levise_, making a blizzard moving upward, carrying shadows and mist with it. _Fireaim _and _magield_, making a flaming shield. Then _unertia_ and _flowater_, making a cyclone of water in the air. But they still came back. But that could be used as an advantage. If the three weapon wielders got in front of Jake when the spell was over, the shadows would run into them and the team would be home free. They could at least go find Joe and Zach. Right?

Wrong. The team decided to try, but the shadows weren't dumber then they looked. All they did was go around the weapons and cling to the heroes once more. But they kept trying it. Once, Jake even heard someone call his name, but he didn't have time to answer. " Try a new spell!" Chet advised him. " OK, um... wind break... sweep away... let us rest, we gotta' pee..." " Jake! Really!" Joseph had said while Chris gave him an angry look through the shadows. " Lemme' try again. Hurricane... Twister... Tornado... _twistind_!" Jake's wand started rumbling. "Finally!" Chris said with relief, though a little louder then necessary. But that relief didn't last long.

An almost category 5 tornado was forming in the sky over Neasmil. " I didn't mean to do that," Jake said solidly. In the distance came a maniac laughter. Then the wind picked up and the shadows started struggling. Struggling to stay in Neasmil. The Shadow's mass was all mist, so they weren't that heavy. That was good. But the tornado wouldn't only pick up mist. Everyone in Neasmil would have to take cover. But luckily, the four could warn the people before the worst. Without the shadows, they were free to run into town. The tornado started north.

They looked to where they would be running. The sight scared all of them. Although the shadow buildings were deteriorating, the city had disappeared into a black and red veil. It was like a black shield. " What the heck?" Jake said. The team walked over to it. Chet, being curious, decided to see if they could walk through it. Guess how that turned out? He ran into it and got a bump on his head. " Hell you, freakin' retard, you darn idiot, when I find who put this up, oh, am I gonna' kill the darn person!" Yeah. Chet was mad.

They tried everything. Jake even tried _Earthan _to make a hole in the force field, but the earth in front of it came up and knocked them all over. " That's gonna' leave a mark..." Joseph said after they got up. " I can't take it, guys," Chris told them all, " They're in there, we're out here. It's not fair. We're a team, we should of never split up." Jake thought and told them an idea. " Joseph, we all know how you got here. But let's tell each other our stories. Ok?" everyone agreed, so Chris went first.

" Ok," He started, " Just like Joseph I woke up for school. I turned on the TV and saw the disappearings. I thought to myself, 'that's weird'. And, considering my situation, it was. That morning, there was something weird in my toaster pastry. I was brown and gooey, and it looked like it had nuts in it." Everyone looked at him with disgust. "We didn't need to know that," Chet said. Chris then continued. " Anyway, I went to school. In the morning I saw Joseph at the water fountain. Then I remember something. It was like a light. After that I felt different."

" That's really weird," Jake said. " I know, " Chris said, " But anyway, life was normal until late afternoon, long after school ended. I think- or was it just a little bit after. I don't know. But I was playing a strategy game on the computer- I just searched a search engine and found one. Didn't even say the name. All I know is I was so into it. I, like here, was a cavalier. But it was like I had played it before, kind of like Joe. But I knew I hadn't. Then... the vortex took me away. From my house to Exemap, right through my Computer. Imagine doing that..."

" Yeah, whatever," Jake said, " My turn. It always starts out the same. Woke up, went downstairs, ate breakfast, saw TV. We went over that twice! Anyway, my mom told me in the car on the way to school to be careful and not disappear. Just the thing a mom would say, huh? But, I listened. When I got to school, I really was careful. Like- following walls and looking around corners. Then I remember a light, like Chris. Now being warned by your mother not to disappear and then thinking you're hallucinating, it's not a good thing. After school, on the bus, I went over it in my head."

"How could a light shine from nowhere, I'll never know. But the feeling of it was unimaginable. Feeling that sensation that you're being lifted away. That's what I felt during the light. I bet you did, too. That's about all I remember. But that wasn't the last time we felt it. When I got home, I didn't have my homework. Of course, I didn't tell my mom. So I decided to play video games. Nothing better to do. I found a game as usual. But the game was different. I had never seen it before, yet I just picked it up. Like I knew where it was."

"So, wait," Chris cut in, " You're telling me- us that you picked up a game you knew was there, but had never seen before? Why, then, would you play it?" "Dunno'," Jake thought out loud, " But I just did. Of course, it seemed to be a game of fierce strategy. Of swords and that kind of stuff. I was an Elementist, like I am now. And we were running... towards a dragon and human-type thing. But it wasn't really human. That's in the game, that is. And then, life and the game combined... through the vortex. Then I landed In Carania, which is a castle village. I was wearing an Orange hooded cloak. I had blue jeans, too. From there I looked around for a while."

" But where is Carania?" Chet asked. " About a week from here. I think we can pass it on the way to Helioa if you want. I really want you to. I want to show you my teacher. Once I got there and looked around for a while, I found this Magic Shoppe place. A man there taught me the art of the elements. So, I figured I must be an Elementist. I was. I adventured to Neasmil, then to Exemap. All in about two weeks."

" My turn, good story," Chet stated, " So, I had just gotten off of my bus. I'm so blank right now; I don't even remember a light. My sister and I just started walking home, no big. I went inside and said hello to my mom, who greeted me hastily. I then got my boots on and went outside to feed the horses. Once I was done with that, I went into the door and downstairs to feed the guinea pigs and my dogs. Then I went upstairs and got a snack."

Chet looked at them all. Jake was twiddling his thumbs. Joseph kept nodding off. But the most annoying was Chris. He looked to Chet like he was picking his ear and examining the wax. Chet cleared his throat louder then necessary and went on. " After my little munch, I went over to watch TV. I sat down on the couch and turned it on. I was flipping through when I saw the credits to a show, something about radio waves, as you said Joseph. What the channel said was next, though, was interesting. A weird voice had come on, one I didn't understand. Then there was fighting, just like that. A warrior. I felt as though I was he. Then I lost conciseness. When I woke up, I was wearing all that I am now. Then, thinking and almost knowing I wasn't alone, I set off to find you guys. And on Exemap I did."

The team had told their stories. But their minds were deteriorating. Their real lives were as far as dreams. Dreams are nightmares. Nightmares are Kealato. What was ahead was more dangerous then even now. What will happen?

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**Joebushy- **...It's coming. Rage and destruction. Friendship will never disappear. Or will it? In chapter 12, purposes will split the team. It might be hard to stand up to enemies. Yet it is harder to stand up to the best of friends. Please, review. I have no more to say, but heed my warning. 


	12. Cold Sweat

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 12**

**Joebushy- **all that needs to be said is said. Be prepared for the worst. Tell me what you like in your review (which I need. I only have two as I'm writing this. Even more reviews from Searo and Chunkypuff3 would be nice. Even if not, review their stories).

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A clash. Naraf, the archfiend swordsmen, was up agenst four heroes from earth. Taylor and Zach used strength potions for strength. They fought up close. Ben and Joe stood back, dodging darkness attacks from Naraf. Joe healed everyone as fast as possible. Ben shot arrows at Naraf, using careful aim as to not hit the two team mates by him. Naraf had extreme speed and power. The red-eyed man could attack Zach and Taylor in one strike, and right in unison could fire a powerful darkness attack at the other two.

Naraf spoke as if they were friends, although they were in the midst of battle. " Wow, nice shot. I want to show you more, if that is ok." He spun around in a spiral; he didn't stop. Then he stuck out his sword so he was like a spinning top with a blade. He maneuvered around the crossroad, where the battle was happening. First he went toward Joe and Ben, and knocked them to the ground. He then did the same to Zach, but Taylor stayed up. " What?" Naraf said with fake surprise, " You dare not fall when attacked by me? How completely pitiful."

Naraf went into a full clash with Taylor. They were both blurs. " Heal..." Joe whispered. He glowed green, then he got back to his feet, completely healed. Naraf was to distracted to notice. Taylor was putting up a good fight. But he looked tired. Ben and Zach were on the ground, completely out of it. The town was destroyed, and to make it worse, there was the black and red shield around the city. It was too much, Joe thought, too much.

Joe started turning red. His robe changed to red and his staff disappeared. " NO!" He yelled. Naraf turned to look at him. " Slow down..." Naraf muttered, although looking scared. Joe's hair had turned to the color of flame red and became spiked. His robe became a light red, with yellow outlines. His hands wouldn't stop flaming. " To much power!" Joe yelled. He burst into the air, flying. Then he started sparking. Flames started showering the city- and the shield. Everything was being destroyed. Naraf was engulfed in extreme pain.

Joe really couldn't control himself. Then the shield burst. Millions of tiny shards scattered across Neasmil. Joe fell to the ground and fainted. Naraf was completely burnt. He looked at Joe with disgust. " I have no reason not to kill you. All of you! I have tried once before, and now I am stuck in this world. I've not yet been this mad. But I will leave. So, then, farewell... forever."

Out of the ground came eight figures. Eight clones of the originals. Eight shadow people. There, purple colored, stood Joe and his teammates. The eight shadows stood in front of the four originals. It was Zach, Ben, and Taylor agenst clones of them and the rest of their team. Joe was still out on the ground, Flamist form. The shield, though, no longer existed.

Joseph was the first to notice, as he had been leaning agenst it when it all of a sudden started heating, then broke. " Guys," he addressed his friends, " look at Neasmil. We _have_ to help Joe. Someone or something has destroyed the town. I don't know what, but we're gonna' find out." Jake, Chris, and Chet got up to follow Joseph. They ran at full speed around the city. But the first one they met wasn't Joe- or anyone on the team, for that matter. They met Naraf. But no words were said. He just ran past. " I get the feeling this guy did something big," Chet said.

Chris and his team went on. The town was now in ruins. The people, though, just sat there. On the sides of the roads, the place they had been for almost two hours. Then they heard an explosion from not far away. They ran to it to find Zach, Ben, and Taylor, standing by Joe, who was on the ground. They looked farther. Sure enough, they saw shadows, shadows of each and every one of them. Three dimensional shadow clones. They ran to Joe and the rest of the team. " What's wrong? Why are they here?" Chris asked Taylor. " Oh, and you don't even say 'hi', do you?" The shadow team stood staring at their human counter-parts. But then they disappeared. Right into thin air. Unexpectedly.

" I guess they didn't want to die yet," Jake said sarcastically. The four that had been absent from the battle with Naraf started explaining what had happened on the outside of the shield. The ones who battled Naraf explained of just that. But Joe was still out of it. Jake went to wake him up, or attempt to. " Joe, get up. Narav... or whatever his name is, is gone." Joe opened his eyes lightly. By now it was almost two o'clock in the morning. Everyone was tired. Joe got up, then started changing back to his healing mage form. " Wha- what happened?" he asked. " You went crazy- it was pretty cool, though," Ben answered. " Yeah,"

Zach continued.

The team started for their tent, believing it was finally over, that they could clean up then go to Carinia, then Helioa. So they went back to their tent and sat down. " Man, do I wish I were at home," Taylor said. Everyone agreed. " Me, too, guys," Joe said, " but there's somthing else I want. You all know we weren't put here to get out. And I doubt that that idiot Naraf could of let off that purple mist. We have to save Kealato." "Joe, don't you get it?" Joseph snapped, " Have we not been here long enough for you to realize that we _need _to get out of this world?

" Well, Joseph, I don't think you understand my point! These people are no different from the people of Earth!" Joe yelled. The two were standing up now. " Really?" Joseph started violently, " I don't think! They are digital! Figments of some crazy person's imagination!" Joe turned his head, then went to lay down. He turned so he was not facing anybody, then went to sleep. Minutes after, everyone else followed.

The next morning, Joe and the rest of the team woke up to the call of a rooster. The tent was sealed closed, the team couldn't see outside. " Arg... my freaking back, oh..." Ben was saying as he stretched. " Joe was the first dressed. " Come on, guys, we have about three days worth of cleaning the town to do!" Everyone groaned but Joe. " Joe, I don't mean to be rude, but we didn't do this," Chet said. The team got up and started towards outside as Joe started talking. " Well, I need your help, and if you don't help me... what the hell!" Joe was looking into the town. It, which had been damaged just hours ago, looked like it had when they arrived. " Guys, I just realized something," Zach started, " We have to get out of here."

Town's people were wondering about like zombies. The expression on their face complimented that. Their eyes were all rolled up in their heads. Their mouths were wide open, bits of drool splashing here and there. They were fixing the town. " Guys," Chris started, " Zombie-like human cavalier doesn't really fit my personality. I hate this place..." The whole team was staring into the town, the surrounding fields, the beach. They only saw the zombie-like people. Although the town was physically back to normal, it seemed even scarier than before. No one would dare enter.

" In the last ten days I've learned a lot," Joseph said, " And running away from suspicious beings is definitely one of them." The team quickly took down their tent. " Guys, I know that none of you thought of my idea as sane last night, but I stick with what I said. We _need_ to save Kealato-" " I thought your idea was as sane as me!" Ben exclaimed. " Yeah," Zach said, " but you're insane, Ben." Now everyone but Ben and Joe laughed. The two walked from the team in rage. " You know what, Ben," Joe started dangerously, " They hate us. They do. Be strong as we want, they'll always hate our way of life, our attitudes!" The two walked to the deserted beach and started throwing rocks.

" I know what you mean, Joe," Ben said comfortingly. " Huh?" Joe said. " Your idea! Save Kealato!" Ben snapped. Joe then came back to his senses. " Oh- yeah, sorry. I feel like we're not the only one on this beach. I can sense it." Ben stepped back. " Joe, maybe they're right, you are mental-" Joe fell to the ground. Ben ran back up to him. " Joe! Joe! C'mon! Get up!" Joe felt as if the life was evaporating out of him. The world became a blur. He was in dead shock.

Joe opened his eyes then looked around. He seemed to be in an ice cavern, left by a glacier. He doubled around, taking in all his surroundings. The walls were covered in ice, the floor was shimmering. He looked around once more, trying to find out why he was there. He saw nothing but a path leading deeper into the cavern. He wondered what could be in it. He walked on.

What he saw amazed him. The ice glistened on the walls, making light travel as far as the eye could see. And that's how long the tunnel was. In the distance, Joe saw some sort of a stand. Whatever it was, it looked important. " I can't imagine being a Flamist in here," Joe said as he walked toward the stand. As he got closer he realized what it was. It was a healing staff- the same weapon Joe used. " This must be a legendary weapon..." Joe muttered, " But I wish, for Chris' sake, that I would've found the Dukito spear... oh, would he be happy. But he wondered what it was called. By now he was right next to it.

He looked around. Then he noticed a sign that said ' Lekineo Staff'. " Ha ha ha. Look, I'm laughing now, see?" Joe snapped sarcastically. He reached for the staff, then took his hand back in fear. Two reasons he did that- one, in most movies he had seen, as soon as a hero found what he was looking for in a rocky cavern, the cavern started caving in. Wouldn't those rules apply for an icy cavern? And reason two was that it could be cursed to kill whoever touched it.

Too late. A crack formed in the ground. Screams of what seemed to be people came from it. Joe picked up the staff. The cavern rumbled. Two icy golems came bursting out of the hole. Joe looked at his staff. Besides the grip, it had a blade coving the whole base. Joe swung it at the golems. It only bounced off. Joe started running toward the back wall, near the stand. The golems went forward to Joe. They stared at him. Again, they had blue eyes. Joe tried running around them, but no use. He was trapped like a rat. That reminded Joe- this had happened before. In his battle agenst the giant rat. Then the beast went for the kill.

But it never happened. Joe closed his eyes tight, and when he opened them, he saw the beach again. He felt the warm breeze, and he saw his friends, all yelling for him to get up. " Guys- I have to tell you something-" They all looked at him. But not because of what he had to say. " Joe- cold and clammy doesn't cut it this time," Taylor said. Joe looked at his hands. Drops of sweat were frozen to the spot. His skin was clammy. He felt his face and found it the same as his hands. " I should be clammy- I was just in shock- but, this is weird... like it was real..." Everyone yet again looked at Joe. " This," he started, " is what I've been trying to tell you."

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**Joebushy-** I think you should like this chapter enough. It is a bit shorter, yes, but it is jam-packed. Oh, and if you like this, read two other stories- _Rain_ by Searo or _A Tale of Many an Adventurer_ by chunkypuff3. Thank you, have fun, Because it's not over yet! Please, review. If you have the time, 1 review per chapter. 


	13. Fire and Ice

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 13**

**Joebushy-** Will the team get the legandary weapons? Here you can find out, But only if you read! Reviews are still appreciated.

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" So, what you're saying is that you saw the Lekino staff?" Ben asked. " Yeah," Joe confirmed. He had just told the dream he had to his team. " What did it look like?" Chris asked in awe. " Well," Joe started, " It's a little hard to remember. It looked like my staff, although it had an ice crystal embedded in the top. Oh, and the one side was sharp, I think..." Well," Chris said with enthusiasm, " I guess it's off to the mountains, to get the Lekino staff, and then, to Helioa, for the Dukito Spear!" 

The team packed up their things. Joe suggjusted they go into town, but considering the people, everyone dissagread. They didn't have supplys, though. Jake said that Carinia was really eleven days away, and they had a path connecting the towns. "Well, they did have a path, Jake said, " but now it doesn't go the whole way. The twistend spell made sure of that." Zach wondered around while the team was packing to collect hurbs, and many other potion ingrediants. He had to make as many helpful potions as possible. When he had, Jake used_ Levise_ to put the things over their heads and the team set off from Neasmil. " Off to Carinia!" Chet sang. " Chet, shut up," Taylor said with annoyence. The team was off.

Four days passed until anything happened. The team was near a small pond, where they had decided to camp. It was almost six o'clock at night. The mountains hadn't provided to much of a probem; the path had leveled out after the portion that the twister had destroyed. They considered themselves lucky because of thieir enviornment. The last few nights had been slept on rocks. " Oh, shoot-" Joe said as they settled in. " I've completely forgot of my hat!" Joe hadn't worn his hat since the encounter with the wolves. " When was the last you saw it?" Joseph asked. " Before you and Chris rescued me the first time," Joe said.

No one had seen it since. " I guess I didn't really need it..." Joe said, shrugging. There was a quick and nearly silent hum. Joe looked around. No one else on the team had noticed. He saw a dark figure moving along the path and behind some rocks. He pursued it. When he got to the rock, no one was there. He looked around again, this time much more cautious. The dark figure was moving inward to the mountains. Joe followed it. He came to a mountain path off the main one. The figure was standing there, holding something. Joe looked at the thing and the figure. Both of what he saw surprised him.

The thing was his hat. The pointed hat of a healing mage, Joe. The figure was actually a person, hooded in a brown cloak. Jude. " Why are you doing this?" Joe asked him. He did nothing. The shining blue-eyed sword-wielding druid just walked on. Joe looked at the back of his real-world friend and rival. Where could he be leading him? Up the mountain, of course. It was get cold. Joe was starting to sweat from walking so much... then it came to him it had only been four days. How could he have forgotten? The dream, the cold sweat. The cavern, of course. Jude was bringing him to the Cavern.

The mountain path went up past the clouds. It almost had to, being as cold and icy as it was. Jude and Joe stopped at the end of the path. " Well, here we are," Jude said. " What? Why haven't you talked to me before?" Joe asked in awe. He was just awestruck that Jude had just talked now. " Well," Jude started, " A fool like you wouldn't understand of course. High altitudes are my freedom. But as soon as I go into that cold cavern, I get all blue- eyed again." Joe looked at Jude. His eyes were no longer glowing blue. " How did you get me up here then? You couldn't control yourself, right?" Joe asked. " Let me explain. A person of your intellagence would never understand."

"Then start," Joe commanded with interest. " Don't you dare boss me around, worthless being!" Jude yelled. Joe coughed, but it sounded like ' He's still Jude, alright'. " The intensity of pressure is the main factor. The more pressure, the more control. In the mountains, the high altitude is perfect. At times, mainly in the lower mountains, I have near complete control. Then, in the highest part of a mountain, I control everything. I can move and speak freely. So can Amit. He's down watching your friends, but, as I said, the lower the altitude and pressure, the less control. He's strugging to not harm anything or anyone. Get it?"

Joe got it. Most of it, at least. " But what about the cavern? It's no different out here then in there, I would know-" " What?' Jude asked. " I had this dream where-" Joe started, but then Jude cut in. " Spare me the drama," "Humph." Joe snorted. " Well, you'll see," Jude said. " Huh?" Joe asked. He didn't know how he would see... well, whatever Jude wanted him to see. "You're going in there, aren't you?" Jude asked. " No," Joe said firmly. " What about the Lekino staff?" Jude asked. Joe had to admit, out of everything, that's what he really wanted. Maybe he could actually use the spell to heal his team. " Maybe I will..." Joe admitted.

" Well," started Jude, " Good, because I can't go with you." " What- oh, yeah," Joe said, " But where's the enterence?" Joe turned his back from Jude to look around. Nothing. When he looked back around, Jude was a step closer. He grabbed Joe and started pushing him towards a wall. Joe closed his eyes, ready to feel the pain. None came. It was an invisable barrier. The path went on another few steps, where it ended with a large drop-off, extending as far as anyone could see. Jude brought Joe and held him over it. Joe was struggleing to put his feet on the solid ground Jude was on. Jude then threw him. " Phyc," he yelled at Joe as he fell. Joe saw Jude's eyes glow that shade of blue again. " Damn you!" Joe yelled with rage.

Plummeting into complete darkness. Icy cold cavern. Jude. They all came to Joe's mind as he hit the hard ground. His back cracked. " 'Spare me the drama,' he says. Geez! Who does he think he is? Throwing a healing mage down to the ground off a cliff... he must be really stupid." Joe healed himself, then got up and started walking into the cavern. There was a thump behind him. " Not again!" He yelled. He looked back to see both Amit and Jude. " Oh, now you too? I feel really stupid right now, because I'm talking and you're not listening. Hello?" Amit and Jude had started walking farther into the cavern.

The journey was an easy one. Sometimes, on the downward slopes, Joe sat down and slid. Amit and Jude just flew over the slopes.

Jude was a blond/brown hair white male. He was no less then half an inch talller than Joe. He usually was never happy, and had a very serious expression on his face. Amit was a black haired indian-colored male. Both were equally smart. Jude had better strength. Amit had a better perspective and imagination. Usually.

A light was at the end of the cavern. It was coming from an icy blue stand. In the stand was what Joe was looking for. The Lukino staff. It looked as though it hadn't been moved since the begginning of his dream in Neasmil. He knew what would happen when he touched it. The ice golems. He walked forward to the staff. He reached out his hand slowly. He knew the concequences of touching it. It all came back to him and then- " Just do it!" yelled Amit. Joe grabbed it. Nothing happened.

He turned to Amit and Jude. They stood there. " Now," Jude said, " Let's see how you bear agenst your rival!" Jude took his sword out of it's seeth and slashed Joe's left shoulder. Joe howled with pain as he fell to his knees. " Get up," Jude said. Joe didn't move. The pain was unbearable, immense. " You hindrence to human kind! Get up! Get up!" Jude slashed at Joe's other arm. It fell off. Joe screamed with extreme pain and agony. But then he calmed. " You, Jude, can't be telling me you think you can hurt a healing mage and make the pain stay? Well, then, _Heal_!" The same green glow as usual came about Joe. He arm reattached. He got up.

" You think you can heal your way out of everything, do you not?" Jude said, " Well, I hate to say it, but your false sense of confidence just might drive you insane! _Hindrisa_!" A beam of darkness shot from Jude's hands, straight for Joe's heart. It hit dead-on. Joe started struggling from complete pain. He fell to the ground, feeling as though he had thousands of needles pricking at him. Then it felt as though he was being trampled by a stampede of animals. His rage was building. _Not here_, he thought, _Please, not here_.

Then he burst into a firey red color. His hands became engulfed in flames, his hair a firey red. " Finally," Amit said. Joe had become a Flamist yet again. He stood up. He had no control He fired at the ice on the cieling above Jude and Amit. The ice became water and splashed on the two's heads. The water froze quickly. Amit and Jude were frozen solid. Joe realized what he had done. He looked around. Then, he fainted yet again.

" Joe!" Chris yelled. The team couldn't find him. " He must've snuck off while we weren't looking," Taylor said. They hadn't seen Jude, nor the shadow of him. Joe was supposedly supposed to be helping pitch the tent, but he got away from doing it. The team split up to look for him. No one found anything but Chet and Chris. But what they found was almost more important.

They had went around the mountain by their campsite and up a path. The weather had went from warm to cold to colder. The altitude of the mountain must of been immense. After walking for almost half an hour, Chet decided they needed to turn around. Chris objected, saying he was looking for something other then Joe. " What the heck could you be looking for besides Joe!" Chet snapped. " The Dukito spear," Chris said with a smirk. Then, about another twenty minutes later, the two heroes came to a landing.

" This must be it," Chris said with curiosity. " You know," said Chet sarcastically, turning away, " I don't think you're gonna' find anything inside a rock wall." He looked back at Chris, or, at least, half of him. Chris was halfway into a rock and halfway out. " Are you coming?" He asked Chet. " Huh? Oh, um, yeah, right," Chet said, confused by the rock veil. " How'd you know about that?" he asked. " A book," Chris answered. " Oh, ok," Chet said. Chris shifted his whole body into the wall. Chet walked up to the wall, and still not sure that it wasn't solid, tried pounding on it. His fist went through. " Ow!" Chris screamed.

" Sorry..." Chet said.

Chet walked through the barrier. The two were standing inside a firey tunnel of rock. " What is it, ninty degrees in here?" Chris said. The two walked into the cave of heat. They started sweating as they went deeper and deeper down the slanting tunnel.

" Chet," Chris said, " I've found it." What was in front of the two was a stand, and in it the Dukito spear. The stand was agenst the final wall of the cave. The spear gleamed a shining silver, it had an enlarged grip, and the tip was cut in four, yet still together. Chris reached out and grabbed the spear. When he did, a hole big enough for the head of the Dukito spear grew into the cave wall.

" Chris," Chet said, " I've got a really bad feeling about this." " What could go wrong?' Chris asked. He pulled the spear out of it's socket. " It's even better then I imagined," Chris said as he examined it. He held it as though to attack, then he ramed it into the hole in the wall. The cave quaked violently. " Hang on!" Chet yelled. The hole in the wall widened because of the Dukito spear's tip splitting into four. The cave stopped shaking. The walls started turning red. " Chet!" Chris yelled, " The cave's going to melt!" And it was. The heat was turning immense, intensifying every second. Chris ran for the hole and grabbed his new spear, with Chet in close pursuit. They jumped into the hole.

What they found froze them stiff. They were in and icy cavern. Joe was lying fainted on the ground. Amit and Jude were frozen stiff with ice. " What happened here-" Chet asked. The hole was getting bigger that connected the two caverns. Soon it was the size of the whole path. " Ut-oh," Chris said. " What do you mean?" Chet asked him. " You know what happens when heat and ice mix, right?" asked Chris "No," Chet said " Well," Chris started, " When they are mixed and there is more heat, there becomes steam. More ice, the ice melts. That side is just about to become a wet, boiling inferno. This place is just about to become an underground waterway."

The icey cavern was rapidly getting warmer. Amit and Jude were thawing out quickly. Chris and Chet ran over to them. " Are you guys ok?" Chris asked. " Yeah," Amit answered. Jude then said, "Joe, he went all crazy fire guy at us and then... we lost all

concessness." " We have to get out of here," Chet said, cutting the subject short. " We'll go through the ice cavern- the fire tunnel will be impossibe to see in," Chris said. " No!" Jude yelled, " There's a wall that goes straight up at the end. We can't go that way." Chris looked at him, thinking as hard as he could. Chet yelled, " No! We're going no matter what. It would be better then not seeing in a path of hot lava."

" Chet," Jude said, "I know we aren't that good of friends, but you have to trust us. We can't go that way." Chet looked at him. No one knew what to do. The fire path was building in heat and steam. The ice path was melting over their heads. " Then," Amit said simply, " We must travel the way of the lava and steam. No doubt in my mind." The four heroes started running, Chet picking up Joe as they went. He was still unconsious. The ran into the fire cave, not knowing the direction because of the blinding steam. " It's impossible, it's scalding hot!" Chris yelled. " Guys," Jude said, " Get close. I'll put a veil around us so we don't feel the heat. _Othith_!" A shield of darkness covered the team.

The heat became less, although now the team was pushing agenst each other just to move, and their vision was still blured. " This isn't working," Chet said. Jude lowered the sheild and the immense heat came back. The team's skin was starting to blister. " Guys, back to the ice cavern!" Chris commanded. The team hurried back. They ran into the icy cold cavern to find the water from the ice being up to their knees. It was rushing toward the fire cave. More steam. " I have an idea!" Chris yelled, " We need to go to the wall here in the ice cavern and wait. The water level will climb. We'll have to let it bring us up." Amit looked at him in disbelief. " You really do take us for stupid, don't you?" he asked. " Yeah," Jude said, " If you thought we hadn't thought of that, you were wrong. It would take so long that the water would be boiling."

" Use magic!" Chet yelled. " Stupid! We can't block liquids," Amit said. Chris had a smile on his face. " Well," he said, " Then we need to speed up the process!" " What?" Chet asked. " I'll show you if you put Joe down," Chris answered. Chet laid Joe in the water that was the cavern floor. Chris pulled his foot back, and in one swipe he kicked Joe as hard as he could. " Dah! What was _that_ for?" Joe asked, finally coming to. He got up and looked around. " Chris, Chet, what are you doing here?" Joe asked. " Let's just say we got the two legandary weapons we've been looking for, and now we're trying to ecape a hot-cold death trap. Make sense?" Chris asked. " No. Not really," Joe answered. " Joe," Amit said, " We need you to help melt that ice so we can shoot to the top of the cliff." "Why would I help you?" Joe asked. " That ice did something to us. We're not possesed anymore," Jude said. " Yeah, you told me something similar right before you threw me of the cliff." Amit looked at Jude. " Nice one, Jude," he said.

" If you don't want to believe me, that's fine," Jude said. " Wait, I-" Joe began. " No, no, it's fine," Jude said. " Wait, I need to tell-" Joe started again. " Just shut-up," Jude said. Jude got out his sword and slashed at Joe's side. " _Heal_!" Joe yelled. The cut healed, leaving only a rip in his hard healing mage robe. " Jude!" Joe yelled, " What are you doing! Stop!" Joe's robes started changing from the dark purple to the fire red. His hair became firey red spikes. " No!" He yelled. The Lukino staff lay on the ground in front of the Flamist. Joe could no longer control himself. He spewed fire from his hands all around the cavern, barely missing everyone else. " You and your ideas," Chris said to Jude. The ice was becomeing water, dripping from the cieling and walls. " Wait!" Chet said, " How do you expect to get Joe to the cliff!" The water level was rising rapidly. It was soon up to everyone's necks, and Joe was showing no sign of stopping. Jude thought for a moment, then he swam toward Joe, the water being hotter the closer he got, and he jumped over him. Joe aimed, but to late. He missed and hit the ice above him. The ice melted, then splashed down on Joe. He looked around for a moment, then he became a healing mage again.

" What the heck?" Chris said. " I extinguished him," Jude said, " The water level should start getting even higher now because of the heat from the other cave." " Jude, I hate you so bad," Joe said. " Why didn't you faint?" Amit asked. " Dunno'," Joe said, " But we need to get out of here." He was right. The team had to wade to stay afloat. " Let's swim," Chris said. The team took a deep breath then went down into the water, where they started swimming to the cliff. Joe was still awestruck of the things that had happened. When they reached the cliff, the water had hardly moved. " Guys," Joe said, " We have a problem."

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**Joebushy- **I think this is the longest chapter yet. Please review! If you really want to, you can proof read any chapter you like, then send it to my e-mail adress. ( 


	14. Venture into Mythinea

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 14**

**Joebushy-** If you have any complaints what so ever of any chapter ( including this one,) or if you want me to write a chapter over, tell me in a review. I don't even care if you flame me. I just like to see the 'review' link on the search page to not have the number _4 _all the time.

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"I don't see what we can do," Chris said with uncertinty, " The water level will be higher soon, but you can bet the lava will heat it." The rest of the team agreed. It would be to hard to climb up a cliff icy as that. There was no way they could last under-water for more than three minutes, so it was impossible to work their way to the fire cave which was about that far away. They could do nothing. They were stuck.

" Amit, Jude, why don't you use your levitating power to bring us to the top?" Joe asked. " Because," Amit said, " We can't use them out of the water." " Guys," Chet said, " A little help..." Chet was drowning under the weight of his axe. He was trying to claw the wall to stay up. The other four swam to him and started holding him up. It was getting warmer every secound. " Oh Hell," Jude said, looking up. Everyone else looked. Ice was falling off the top of the cavern in thick chunks. " Go!" Amit yelled. The team went down into the warm water, leaving go of Chet.

They had swum a little ways when the ice hit. It splashed with extreme power. A current started, then the team started speeding farther into the middle of the cave. Chet saw it before anyone else. The water ended in steam. That was how hot the fire cave must of been. No one would know. As the team sped through the cavern, it got warmer. But when they came to the once end of the fire tunnel, they found where the water was going.

The stand where the Dukito spear had laid was gone, and where it had been a ditch had formed. " Wha- happen?" Chris asked through a mouth of rushing water. Nobody knew. All that they knew was that one second they had been floating and the next they were shooting downward. It was like a waterfall. The warm water rushed the team down a new path. Almost at once, or so it seemed, they were falling into an underground lake. Chris and Chet had fainted, Joe was praying, and Amit and Jude were trying to find a good posistion to dive in. Water was still rushing all around them. They splashed into the water like five speeding bulets, but the impact felt like dynamite. Amit, Jude, and Joe all fainted.

Joe's eyes opened on a beach. He looked around and found he was still wet. The cave ceiling was still above him, and he saw that the rest of the team was just waking. Then they all got up " Where are we?" Chris asked groggily. " I know," Amit said, " And it's not good. This is what used to be Neasmil, I can tell." Joe looked at him disbelieving. " What do you mean, used to be?" He asked. " I'll tell you," Amit answered, " Now let me start. Neasmil was normal. Not all of what it is now. It was the main port town with normal people. But one day about two years ago, or so I heard, there was a massave earthquake. One that brought Neasmil into ruins. The day after the earthquake, the town was fixed and all of the dead were back. Nobody knew how. People have said Neasmil sunk into the ground, that day. It sort of did, but no human has seen it. I heard they call this place Mythinea. Nobody knew it exsisted. Until now."

Now that Joe knew were he was, he took his surroundings in again. It was exactly like Neasmil was after the purple mist. It was destroyed. " Amit," Joe said, " This wasn't an earthquake. I know it wasn't." Joe said. " It must've been-" " Don't jump to conclusions. It may have been, although I don't want you handing out false ideas. The people here in Mythinea are different-" " People?" The whole team asked. " Yes, people," Amit said, " People who live under a ruler... magraf, I think his name was." Joe looked stunned. " Amit," he said, " I know just who the leader is. The thing is, he's to strong for us. C'mon, let's swim out of here." He turned around to leave, then remembered they were in an underground cavern. " Great... Just great..." He turned around and led the team into Mythinea. The people there seemed normal to the team. Or, at least, normal for a town of people living underground.

As they walked people stared at them, people who seemed familiar, although acted much differently. The people were the same people as the ones in Neasmil. The difference was that these people weren't happy like their conterparts. These people were sad. Joe scanned the town. He saw things that were different, even more different than the people. The houses were broken down and the stone street was dirty. But what caught Joe's eye was what was walking up the street. People were bowing to him. He stared onward. " Who is-" Jude started. " Shut up," Joe said, " Hide, I don't want you here." " Don't you dare tell me to shut up!" Jude yelled. Naraf had stopped in front of the team, still staring ahead. " Nice move," Chris said sarcastically.

Naraf turned and looked directly at Joe, who stepped from the back of the group. " You..." Naraf said, " You!" Joe just provided a forced smirk. " Oh, excuse me," he said, " What is it? I think I'm being watched," He caught Naraf's eye and smiled. " 'Ah well." Joe finished. Naraf was taken aback by the impact of the insult. " Ah," he said, regaining his normal evilness, " So, you are afraid, is that it?" Joe froze. Truth is, he was. Joe was so scared of Naraf, being that he was a 5' foor 4" twelve-year-old and Naraf was about 6' foot 1" and was about 24. " Listen," he said. " Yes," Joe said as though he had just been interupted.

Naraf looked at the ground sympathetically. " I'm sorry," he said. Joe stepped back into Amit. " For what?" Joe asked. " For not killing you and your team before!" Naraf shot up into the air useing the power of his wings. " Forgot about this, didn't you!" he yelled at the team.

Joe didn't know what to do. None of them could fly. " What's the matter? Are you to stupid to follow me?" Naraf said. " Shut up!" Chris snapped, " Joe's not as stupid as you!" Naraf laughed evilly. " Ha! Fool, you are even more stupid than your leader!" Chris looked around. " What?" he asked. " Wow," Naraf said," you really are dumb. Joe, you fool!" Chris' eyes shifted to Joe. " You didn't tell me!" he said to Joe. No one laughed. " Chris," Joe said, " I am not the leader and you know it." Naraf shook his head. " Why do you lie?" he asked, " You think you are so impeccable. You are surely not! You have made so many flaws and errors!" He looked at Joe with pure loating.

" I guess you're still crying like a baby because of how I burnt your butt, is that it?" Joe asked. " Ha ha, I get it. Now, as I said, you're scared. Why do you whimper in the dark king's presense? You have no reason. So, I will give you one!" Naraf looked up to the stone ceiling. It shattered and started falling toward the team, water, stone, and lave. " Ha!" he said. It had happened so fast. Jude and Amit ran into a building, but the remaining three were in a state of shock. They couldn't move out of harms way. But maybe there was no harm.

" Jude," Amit said, " I don't think they're in much danger. Think about it- What happens when lava cools with water?" Jude screwed up his face in thought. " I don't know," he said. " Me either," Amit answered. The two magic wielders watched in hope. Right then, there was nothing they could do. The team was hopeless. Naraf was still looking up at the place where the lava, water, and rock was coming down. He was laughing maniacly, his eyes not looking behind him.

A white boomerang was flying toward him. He sensed it just in time. When he did, he turned around and grabbed it. " Who threw this?" he asked madly. " I did," someone said from atop a building. It was a blue-haired boy, about five feet eleven inches tall, his eyes were blue, and he was wearing blue armor like that of a soldier. He looked to be in his late teens. " Who are you!" Naraf damanded. " Axel!" The boy yelled. " So, Axel, you think you can hurt me with this... child's toy! I believe not!" Axel grimmiced. " Oh, I believe so. Just look at it." Naraf looked at the boomerang. It had started glowing red. " What do you play me for, you fool!" Naraf said crazily. " An idiot," Axel said. Just then the boomerang exploded. Naraf flew forward and started falling stomach first.

"Where are they?" Zach asked Taylor. " I don't know, but they've been gone for over an hour," Taylor answered. Zach, Taylor, Ben, Joseph, and Jake were sitting on seperate logs at camp. They had givin up their attempt to find Joe only by losing Chet and Chris. Jake, using _fireaim_, had started a blazing bonfire. It had began to turn dark an hour before, so the fire was their only light. " From what I heard," Jake said mystically, " a city unlike any other lies underground in these mountains. It's surrounded by two elements-" " Yeah," Joseph cut in, " we definatly didn't know it was going to be about elements, huh guys?" " Shut up, you git," Jake snapped. " Oh, " Joseph said with sarcasm, " So, your going all english on us, are you?" Jake stood up from his seat.

" I don't know what's up with you," Jake said, " But, you say one more thing, and-" " And you're going to go crying to your mother, is that it?" Jake reached for his wand, but Joseph was to quick. He had already drawn his sword and swung. " Stop."

" What'd you say?" Jake said with uncertenty, one hand over both his eyes. " Are you God? Am I in heaven, am I dead?"

He with drew his hand. Joseph's sword was being held back by something. Another sword, it seemed. Joseph looked awestruck. " Good, you listened to me- oh, wait, never mind. I did that, didn't I?" Joseph withdrew his sword.

The team looked over to the sorce of the voice. A male with long, dangaling red hair stood with his sword blocking Joseph. He looked to be in his late teens. His eyes were red and he was wearing the kind of red armor that a soldier would wear. Connected to his fire-red armor was a sheath made for a double sided sword. "So, um, what's your name?" Taylor asked warily as he got up from his log seat. " My name?" the teenager asked. " No," Zach cut in sarcastically. " Well, sorry," the tall male said, " I didn't know how much I was intruding. I guess you do not wish to know, then."

He started walking away slowly. " Wait, answer our question," Jake said quickly, " And what do you mean by ' I guess you do not wish to know, then'?" The teenager turned around. " Well, first of all, I'm older than you, so shut up. I don't even think you were in this conversation, were you?" Jake turned a violent shade of red, but he stayed straight. " So, what is your name?" he asked again asked again. " Such a fool. What did I just say!" Jake's mouth managed hade of red, but his face a small smirk, but it dissapeared in less than a second. " You told me to shut up," Jake said simply. " Well, why don't you?" The other four were getting restless. " When are you going to start talking?" Ben asked. The teen let out a sigh. " Fine. I guess I can spare some information."

He cleared his throat and started. " I'm Rauel. I protect and reign the mountains to Kealato with my partener, Axel. I am an Ex-warrior from Gothith kingdom, as you can see from the red armor an sword. Axel I found stranded on a mountain peak with only his boomerang. My age is of no concern. As for you-" he indicated Jake, " I get the feeling I'm _not _going to like you." Jake started turning red again, but Zach was quick enough to put his hand on Jake's shoulder and calm him down. Rauel looked up to the sky and put his hands behind his back. " The news-" he said as though he was talking to the sky, " is the normal. Water shortage in Farith, Neasmil rebuilt- oh, and your friends are trapped in an underground city with a mad-man."

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**Joebushy-** Have you ever had writers block in the middle of a chapter? Yeah, you catch my drift. Sorry if you're a bit confused, but Joebushy is back! 


	15. Darkness

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 15**

**Joebushy- **Hello non-reviewers. I'm going to ask you and ask you again. Can you please review. Really, my story will take a long time to get better if I don't know what needs fixed. Besides that, I will work on other chapters. Sorry for the wait!

" So," Taylor asked Rauel, " Your friend that throws- what was it- 'exploding' boomerangs is saving our friends butts, is that it?" Rauel thought a moment. " Yes, that's about it," he answered. The remaining five team members and Rauel were walking along the stream that ran past their campsite. Rauel had said that there was a spot where the water cut off into a tunnel that led into Mythinea, the city where Joe, Chris, and Chet were. " You see," Rauel stated after about a quarter hour of walking, " This way we over pass the Fire and Ice caves." Jake ran up beside him and said, " So, I guess you've warmed us to us a little." Rauel stopped an looked at him. " Doubt it." He pushed Jake to the ground and continued walking.

Naraf flew streight into the ground head first. Chris and Chet started running over to attack, but Axel called them back. " He's not even phased," he stated seriously. He was right. Naraf got up and flew into the air once more. " I guess some people have to be useless," he shot at Axel. " Yeah maybe, but none of them are here are they?" Naraf smirked widely. " What fools!" He yelled. " You are nothing. Nothing compared to me. You cannot be protected from the imminent!" Joe finally had had enough. He had been standing in the back of everyone for some time now. " Nothing? Ha! I doubt that... I- I know that we are going to win. Our friends will come through! I know it!"

He was right- in a way. Amit and Jude had taken a guess that the rest of the team would come through the underground waterway. It was the only way to get into Mythinea without going through the element caves. So they had used a combo spell of _ifothaga _and _lifalin_ to widen the way. Naraf, his deadly glaze still focused on Joe and Axel, did not see the two magic weilders. A stroke of luck for a moment. That was because of Naraf's deadly ability to sense anything moving- he had not brought forth that yet.

Joe was ready to heal his ally's at any givin moment. Naraf looked ready to strike all the same. He had posistioned himself ahead of his dragon wings and was looking at the ground in deep thought. He then brought his head up with jolt. " Ha. I've been thinking-" " Of course you have!" Axel interrupted. "- that you may beat me. So, I have taken the liberty- of setting darkness bombs around the stone barrier of Mythinea. So, great Joe, what will you do?" Joe looked around. Nothing. He turned a full 360 degree turn- and spotted two figures hovering over the lake. _Yes, that's it _he thought. " I'll tell you what I'll do! Run like a coward!"

Naraf was taken aback. Running like a coward? What a baby. Unless- No, it couldn't be. The lake was draining. Rocks were exploding from the hole that the two magic users had been widening. Naraf stretched out his hand and fired a beam of darkness in the direction of the hole.

" Move! We're under fire! Jake, make the rocks fly faster. Go!" The beam of darkness barely missed Taylor's head. " Rauel," he asked, " Why don't we just ask Jake to put up a sheild?" Rauel ducked and dodged another beam. The other four did the same. " Because," he answered, " If you were as smart as you were tall, you would know that the darkness magic from an archfiend _is_ death. It cannot be beaten." " Oh yes," Taylor said sarcastically, " everyone knows that, especially a dumb earthling like me. Only people from Kealato are knowledgeable." Rauel smirked and the five moved on, trying to stay away from the magic of the druid and mage that were widening the hole, also dodgeing the deadly magic of the archfiend.

" You think you can escape the unescapable? Don't make me laugh! Ha!" Naraf's beam's were generating at an alearming rate. It anyone had glanced a look, they would of said that the man had some sort of grey lazer pointer that fired really big lazers. Amit and Jude could no longer dodge, let alone fire. They had to get away. In an instant they stopped the unfathomable beams of dark and light. But at that same moment, the wall started to crumble. And Naraf wouldn't stop the death beams.

" You dare think you can sneak up on me!" Naraf's eyes were as wide as they could be as he continued firing the dark beams of light. He didn't care what happened. He had nearly been out smarted. He couldn't let that happen again. Joe was standing stiff and staring. Just staring. Naraf was attacking Joe's friends and he was doing nothing. He had to do something. Anything.

_What if I distract him,_ Joe thought,_ then Amit and Jude will be able to help Joseph and the others_. "Naraf!" He yelled at his enemy. Naraf stole another glance. " Finally talking?" he asked sarcastically. " Yeah. I am. Oh, I nearly forgot. Your mother from earth told me to tell you that you were always a jackass."

"Your not funny," Naraf said with fake sympothy. " All the more reason for me to kill you." He decended from his spot in the air and calmly walked toward Joe. He stopped when they were so close Naraf could do what he had decided to do. Joe stood there as Naraf brought his hand back in a fist. Then, quick as possible, Joe yelled for his team. " Now! Save yourselves. Then kill him! I'll worry about myself!" The team looked in time to see Naraf uppercut Joe into the ceiling. Jude, Amit, Chris, and Chet looked in anger. What had Naraf done? And why was it that Joe yelled he would take care of himself all of these questions would be answered. But not soon.

Rauel hadn't had time to look. All he knew was Axel, in the midst of the fury, had come to save them. The hole was now big enough for them to fit through. It had only taken one boomerang to destroy the rocks- it worked as dynamite. Rauel came out, followed by Taylor, Ben, Joseph, Zach, and Jake. None of those six- nor Axel- knew of what happened to Joe. They only knew the battle would get harder. " What's the situation?" Zach yelled to the four. Amit turned. " Joe- he, how should I put this, figured six was better than one." He pointed to the ceiling and the team looked up. A hole had formed. In it was nothing but black. It only went on.

" Naraf, you evil fiend! What have you done!" Ben yelled. " As you can see, fool, I sent your friend through the ceiling. Would you like to join him?" Ben stepped back. " No sir!" he yelled. Taylor stepped by him. " Ben," he said sternly, " Stick up for yourself." Ben swollowed a wad of spit and sat on the ground. " As I thought," Naraf grunted. "What a pathetic bunch of fools. So selfless! It makes me want to throw up."

But Chris stepped foward. His friend had just been blown into the ceiling to even the odds. But had it? Naraf seemed unbeatable, especially without their leader. Had Joe really done a suicide mission for nothing? Or had it really been a suicede? Was he dead? So many questions with so little answers. The only one answer known to Chris was the chances of winning were slim- meaning should they run, or assult? He didn't know. He just didn't know.

What would he had done on earth? What would anyone of done on Earth? It seemed he- and all others- had changed tremendously in their short 13 days in Kealato. On Earth he would of ran around screaming like a little girl. But he was not on earth anymore. He had a new conscience of doing things. But he could _not_ ever sacrafice his teammates lives. He had to retreat. But then innocent lives would be destroyed. Maybe, only if... he had an idea. Yes, that would be it.

" Why do you stand there, cavalier!" Naraf yelled heartily. Chris thought. This evil man. He was just so fake. " Naraf," Chris said calmly. " Listen and understand. You will never make myself or my team cower or flail. We will bring you down. Whatever it takes, Naraf." He stepped backward. "Line formation!" He yelled. The eleven men remaining stepped into a line, still facing Naraf. If this worked, Kealato might be saved. If not, their last chance would be thworted. " Weapons at the ready!" Chris command. He was attempting a full scale attack.

Rauel drew his sword. " You will never win," He said. Axel readied his boomerang. " Good will always win!" Joseph gripped his spear. " You won't prevail!" he yelled. Ben loaded his bow. " Joe will be avenged!" Taylor held out his sword. " Prepare for the worst, you fiend!" He spat. Chet swayed his axe cockingly. " You don't scare me!" Zach took out a potion. " Lets do this." Jake pointed his wand at Naraf. " Do not underestamate us." he said. Jude was ready with his magic. " We will not leave without a fight." Amit stood there cooly. " Shut up and lets fight."

Chris stood straight with the tip of his sword on the ground. " Naraf, you might want to know what _death _feels like. I couldn't tell you. But, you, _you_ will find out soon enough. Naraf, I will say this once. ENTER OBLIVION! charge!" The eight charged forward. Naraf stood there. His face seemed expressionless. " Darkness," he said, " is power. Power... is evil. Evil... Is I!_Spirits of darkness, send fourth your almighty wrath through the power of me! Engulf me in your darkness!_" The team was closing in. But something went wrong. They stopped. An invisible force froze them- and then it became clear. Colmn's of mist, the color of purple sprang up in a wall around Naraf. It happened just like Jake's rock colmns appeared around the soldiers. The mist went straight up. " The mist," Joseph whispered, " must be the spirits of darkness..." He stopped whispering, then yelled "Everyone stay clear of the mist!"

"Ha! What a remark," Axel said sarcastically. " Like we have a choice to even move!" But, half luckily, they were moving away from Naraf. Then, at one-hundred yards away, they were set down. A reign of evil was about to unfold.

**Joebushy- **Again, sorry for the wait. I have a reminder for all who wish to copy this story- look at the bottem of the page. See that copyright? Hm hm, anyway, enjoy and review.


	16. Archfiend Force

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's story**

**Chapter 16**

**Joebushy-** If anyone knows a good publishing company and how to contact them, tell me at that, I am beginning to heed my reviews- look forward to the next couple chapters!

Sometimes, even in the worst predicaments thinkable, a light of hope comes. Sometimes, something neither you nor anyone ever thought possible occurs. Sometimes things happen so unthinkable that even the insufferable imminent can be devoured. Even when all seems lost and is forsaken you find that one light of hope in one object. And so it happened here.

With the columns of mist and darkness surrounding Naraf none of the team could see the transformation. Would Kealato end now? It seemed as though it already had. Their leader in the ceiling (which was no longer projecting anything), Naraf engulfed in darkness, and the secret of the purple mist revealed. Nothing could save them. It seemed the world was ending right before the team's eyes. They were frozen in fear. They were about to die in a world almost alien to them.

The mist cleared to reveal a purple figure with flaming red eyes. The outline was that of Naraf. It had human features- arms, legs, all and everything. But the mist surrounded it. It- or he- was darkness. It was power. It was evil. " _Where was I..._" mocked Naraf's voice. " _Ah... yes. Sprits of darkness. Now, as you might... snap out of it!... as you might know, these spirits are the darkness of everything. They are but clones of evil. Of the infinite abyss. Now, all of you. With my new- found power I..._"

"You what?" Rauel stepped forward. " Kill us- destroy Kealato? What's the point Naraf? Do you believe innocent lives are to be destroyed for fun!" He stopped there, having proved his point.

"... I will do the mortal's unthinkable..."

Axel laughed out loud. " Ha ha, dark one. How should I say this, um... you are speaking in such a way I can not understand nor anyone else but whoith you described it to! Code! Mortal's unthinkable, Ha!"

" ...Kealato will fall..."

" Wow," Chris mocked, "Like that's never been attempted before!"

"... All will perish..."

Joseph almost fell to the ground. " WHOO! Never saw that coming!"

" ... Including you. Kealato will become a desolate wasteland under the control of evil. All will bow before me!"

The creature that was Naraf started growing. It was unstoppable. Little by little the ancient city of Mythinea gathered to watch their demise- the beginning of the end. It was as though darkness was in control, had the upper hand. The team had failed just like that. Darkness overwhelmed. It wasn't like movies at all. No, this was real. It was part of a much larger picture. In front of them a world not their own was crumbling. Now the question came up of what to do.

Naraf's voice was merciless as he spoke once again. " _You, earthlings and all, became to cocky. Unaware of your surroundings! A day of reckoning has befallen you. It is now good agenst evil. Weak agenst strong. Demonstrate how strong the power of good is, as now, I show you the awesome power that is evil!_"

" Guy's, what do we do?" Chris asked. Not a trace of cockiness was in his voice. Nobody said a word. " Do we escape," He suggested out loud, " Or do we fight? Either way, we cannot prevail. Our tale of adventure comes down to this. We came here, not knowing what we wanted more; escape or save. Now my friends, what do we do?"

"Fight," Taylor voted.

"Fight," Chet said.

The rest of the team echoed the word " Fight ". It was settled. For now, the team stayed. They would fight until the bitter end. The stage was set. Naraf stood fifteen-feet tall, red eyes staring down. The team stood ready. It all came down to this. Would it be the end- or a happy ending?

" _Fight? Me_?" Naraf was dumbstruck. That was good. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. All that mattered was to catch the winged beast creature off-guard. But maybe the elements of magic could help...

"Gather!" yelled Chris. The team gathered so they could talk. " I have a plan. First trap with magic then attack. Got it?" In came a flurry of questions. " Just do it!" Chris yelled. The team broke up. It was time. So far, all had gone wrong. Mythinea was a place of never-ending tragedy. From the element caves to the darkness consuming everything. It seemed they had already lost. But with Chris' plan came some hope- but not much. It seemed idiotic to pull that attack. But all would soon come into place.

The first strike belonged to Naraf. The team was back in line formation waiting when it came. " _Garamaness_!" He yelled. Dark spheres flew out of Naraf chest. They where the same shade as him- an evil purple. The team scrambled away from the menacing comet. What it left was a crater; inside of it purple mist. The mist started slowly spreading.

" What do we do?" Taylor commanded.

" The plan," said Chris. " But do not, under any circumstance, collide with the mist. Axel, Rauel, if you didn't figure this out yet, the mist is darkness. Touch it- and you will fall. Now, attack!"

The team charged once again. It would soon be weapon on weapon. Jake stayed back with Zach. They would be needed to trap Naraf so he could not attack.

"Zach," Jake said, " Concoct a potion to repel magic. It will help my wall." Zach started searching through his bag for his potion book. He only found it after plowing through his phoenix feathers and lynx essence. Then he looked through it's contents until he found what he was looking for- Magic Repelling potion.

He grabbed the ingredients- pixie dust, crren plant, and the bottled light attack of _Creight _and mixed them into a bottle. "Jake," Zach asked quickly, " use fireaim on this potion. Hurry!" Jake scrambled for his wand. " Jake, just use it!" But Jake thought. He had just realized something so gut-wrenching that he couldn't watch. He thought back to when they had seen Naraf in the past. This archfiend had a sword. The team could be doomed.

There was no wind on their way down. But there was wind here. It gave this area an immense feeling of being haunted. It was an underground city, number one. How much creepier could it get? Throw in pure darkness and you would almost pee your pants. But not if you were there, and fighting for revenge. But why fight for what you don't know? Why would they need revenge for something that didn't happen?

" _Fireaim!_" yelled Jake. Immediately the potion became bubbly. " Now put that potion on the tip of my wand," He commanded. Zach did so. " We can only hope," Jake said. " _Earthan!_" As it happened before, towering pillars of earth formed out of the ground around Naraf. With them, a repelling shield.

" Nice combo," Zach praised.

" Yeah," agreed Jake.

" Now, attack!" yelled Chris. The team quickly destroyed one pillar and charged in. They were right under Naraf. Only his purple glow gave off light in this high tower of earth. But that didn't stop them. No, they attacked hard. But Naraf wasn't phased. Not at all. He knelt down and punched the ground to show power. This giant was acting cocky. Chris liked that. What it meant was that if the team gave it all they had, the Archfiend would fall.

" _Ho ha ha! Mortals! What is this you're doing? An attempt, correct? Well, than I'll just have to test your skills! Beam Chaos!_"

A black beam, big as a spotlight, commenced flowing from Naraf's right hand. " Now; let's see how fast you can run," he said calmly.

" Jake," Zach said with a hint of anticipation, " what does that do?" He stared at the black beam Naraf was shooting. He could only see a portion of them since they were not in the pillars. Jake stared, thinking hard. But then it came to him only moments later. How could he not of know being an Elementist. His previous teacher had showed him all types of magic. He needed to remember it, and had done so. He was looking at the most powerful dark attack there was.

Jake waited a second before answering. " Zach," he said finally, " Beam Chaos had destroyed city after city in ancient times. It was the most feared thing of it all, the dark plague they called it. Zach, lets hope your potion works." Zach looked at him. He didn't know what the heck Jake was saying. But one thing he knew- Naraf still had his sword. Even if this attack didn't work, Naraf would have no trouble escaping his entrapment- no trouble at all. Only if he did not use his weapon would they win.

No such luck. Naraf was struggling, and although beam chaos was still homing, the team was dodging. Their leader- Chris- was good. But would he come back like Naraf knew Joe would have if- no, he wouldn't. Never. This made him think. Back, when he was spared death. The promise he made. Perfect Kealato, at all costs. Purify it; destroy all imperfect of the land. All who were not worthy. And then he remembered what else he had promised. He had promised to protect the perfect Kealato- in both magic- and sword! He was confined, as he had found in a magical force field that would let no magic in or out. But, he thought, that may only be magic. Seconds later, he found out.

"Chris," said Rauel, " he's withdrawing his sword. I think- I think we better retreat, Chris. I don't want to lose anyone."

"Yes, I agree," said Chris. " Back off, guys, retreat!" The team ran out through the open hole. They ran until they were about thirty yards away, next to Zach and Jake. There they stood, not daring to look behind them. " Ready?" Chris asked with valor. " Then lets shed some blood." One by one the team turned around, preparing to fight until the end. " If anyone has second thoughts about saving Kealato leave now. Otherwise, don't attack until you see him facing us. Then full power. If anyone... suffers, no helping. Just fight." What they saw next was both amazing and gut wrenching at once. With one spiral cut the pillars broke; Naraf was on offense.

The destruction of Mythinea had begun. The first move was made by Jude. "_Neverfathom!_" he yelled. He ran mach one to behind Naraf, who didn't have time to react. From there, Jude ran to right under Naraf, careful not to be off at all. "_Gromagraplin!_" He flew up to the bottom of Naraf's back, then ran up to the head. "_Itio!_" he yelled. He now punched the top of Naraf's head, and between the speed and power, Naraf collapsed. Jude fell off as Naraf tumbled.

"Nice move," said Amit as Jude and Naraf came crashing down. " My turn- _Lifalin!_" Naraf levitated into the air from his spot on the ground. " How do you like this!" Amit mocked. He then let go of Naraf who fell with a crash. " How fun!"

" Team," Chris said, " I don't know if he's out or not. After all our attacks how does he give up after only two? He was showing no sign of weakness, so why would he fall now?" The answer came soon enough. In those few seconds, Naraf had gone from a purple creature to an Archfiend. He was back.

He picked himself up, but there was, in fact, something terribly wrong. Naraf's eyes had dark circles below them, his eyes looked maniacal. His hands were clenching his hair as though he was in enormous agony. But could he be? Chris looked closer and saw Naraf's mouth moving, but no words were coming out. There was definitely something wrong.

Naraf looked into the rocky ceiling. Almost simultaneously, an earthquake that shook the whole team off their feet arrived. " What the heck's going on!" yelled Joseph.

"I... I don't know," Rauel answered. Then came a scream. They looked toward Naraf to see the most horrifying sight they had yet seen in Kealato- Naraf's body was decaying. At first he only looked to be gaining age, but everyone had guessed correctly in knowing an Archfiend will only die with force. Then Naraf's body became a sickly gray, what one might call the color of death. They couldn't stand looking any more, so the team turned away.

" Is he really...?" asked Zach.

" Yeah," answered Ben. Everyone stood in silence for a few moments, not out of respect for the dead, but because of awe. Had their Arch nemesis just fallen for good? Then it happened again- bigger and more powerful than before.

"Did you hear that?" asked Chet. The team listened. Could this be happening again? Then the ground commenced shaking- calm and then more and more violent. No one needed to say anything. They knew what was happening. Mythinea, the lost city of Kealato, was collapsing.

**Joebushy- **Still remember the sub-title of the story. This is _Joe's Story_. I still hope your tuning in (yes you, Zach) and please review! Please, don't copy this story. When and if I do publish it, this site will check to see if I was first to make it. Thanks.


	17. Adventurers meet

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 17**

**Joebushy**- The worst is coming. Can the adventurers escape? Please read and review.

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The city of Mythinea was in major panic. Men, wemon, and children would soon die. What could the team do? They were running, but to where? Taylor stopped. Everyone else noticed and stopped too.

" I'm going back," he said. " We have a city to save."

"Wait! I'm going to," Amit said. " We can't just leave. I'll bet there are over one hundred people in there. Will we sacrafice them for us eleven? I won't." Taylor nodded and he and Amit turned to leave.

As they started walking, Chris called to them. " We're coming to." The ground was still shaking, less violently now, but it would surely become more crazy. Rocks would soon begin falling. Houses would crumble. The team had to save Mythinea, now more then anything else. People could suffer for a while, but the team could save them. Once people died, though, they were gone.

They looked into the city as they arrived. People were huddling on buildings, small children were crying. Although Narafs reign was over, the citizens of Mythinea were still terrified. The end might of been the begginning. " Look at these people!" Joseph screamed. " They aren't even attempting to evacuate!"

Chris looked at him. " Yes, Joseph, we know that already. That's why we came back." Joseph turned red and looked at the ground. They needed an idea to help these people escape. Chris knew that if they tried to get them into the hole, they would crush each other. He needed an alternative, something large enough for many people to enter at once. He thought back. Then it became clear. He needed to get these people to the Fire Cave.

"_Earth!_" yelled Jake. Just as planned, the earth flew up in the shape of a gaint staircase. It went straight into the ceiling, blocked off after the lava and water flow. " Like that?" he asked. The people of Mythinea, now gathered near the staircase, were watching intently

" Won't the earthquake make the stairs colapse?" asked one lady. Jake looked to Jude and Amit, who smiled and looked at the staircase.

" No," said Jude stepping forward from the team oppisite the crowd. " Not after this. _Othitho!_" A wall of darkness appeared on the left side of the stairs. " A wall!" he yelled. Amit started running to the side of the crowd.

" And," he said, " on your right side, if you prefer the light, _Creightite!_" This time, a wall of light magic appeared on the other side of the stairs, " Now," Amit said, " it won't fall." He then looked to the top of the stairs and ran to Jake. " You're forgeting something," he whispered. Jake looked to the top. It was still blocked.

" Sorry," Jake appoligized. " Please step away." The crowd did as they were told. " _Flowater!_" A sturdy jet of water flew from Jake's wand toward the ceiling. When it hit, the water drilled through the rock, which crumbled down the steps. What lie in the distance made everyone stop and look.

First they're were three flashes of green light. Then three long. Then three short again. No one belived what they were seeing. " What did those light flashes of light mean?" asked Axel.

" What it means," Chris said with building excitement, " is S.O.S. Axel, what it means is Joe isn't dead!" The team started up the stairs followed by the people of Mythinea. At the top, they found what the signal had really meant.

" Joe!" Chris said as he burst through the opening into the ice and fire caves. He looked into the ice cave. Joe had moved around the corner, but why? If he was really in trouble, why had he moved? Then they heard a boy scream. It was Joe. Chris looked around. " Do you all have your weapons?" Chris asked. They all nodded. " Chet and Joseph, bring these people out of here through the fire cave. Chet, you know where you're going, so guide them to camp. If you run into anything... Just save the civilians."

Chet and Joseph nodded. " Come with us," Chet said to the people, who followed them into the fire cave. Chris uncovered his sword and headed into the Ice Cave. The remaining of the team followed. As they rounded the corner, they remembered back. Back to Neasmil. What they had seen four days previous. What had haunted them for four nights

The blue glow of the ice cave illuminated the event that was taking place at the cliff of the ice cave. Ten shadows were closing in on Joe who was pinned agenst the wall by his shadow. He looked over at Chris. " Glad you could make it."

Chris smirked. He looked at the shadows- there was a clone of every team member except Axel and Rauel. They had not met until the mountains. They hadn't been in Neasmil during the purple mist. But, because Chet and Joseph were not at that area, the two teams were evenly matched. " Well," Chris mocked, " Let's do it!" The team looked confused until the moment they charged. The shadow battle was on.

Everyone matched up with their counterparts besides Axel and Rauel, who matched with Shadow Joseph and Shadow Chet. Before Chris went to his clone, Joe was set free. Chris's blade knocked Shadow Joe into a wall. In turn, though, Shadow Chris struck Chris in the arm. He started bleeding badly. " _Heal!_" Joe yelled. Chris's arm glowed green and stopped bleeding.

Axel was having no trouble at all agenst Shadow Joseph. He only had to keep his distance. His exploding boomerang made sure of that. Shadow Joseph couldn't even get close enough to attack. Rauel wasn't having much trouble either. His sword was twice as long as Shadow Chet's axe. The only one having any real trouble was Jake who, whichever spell he used, was countered by the corresponding element. Ice and plant by fire. Water by plant and ice. Earth and water by plant. Everything he did seemed to be destroyed. But not only these ten had problems.

The Fire cave, after the lava spill, seemed only warm. Joseph and Chet wondered if Joe was really ok. The people of Mythinea were scared of losing their home. The Earthquake had so far went on and off three times. The second had surely destroyed their homes. Half of them had fell over. They hoped the two heroes would lead them out safely. They hoped that would be easy. It wasn't.

The light at the end of the tunnel was fast approaching. You could already feel the warmth of the sunlight. The only thing wrong were the four things standing at the exit. Chet didn't remember any huge rocks. Whatever they were they couldn't do much harm. What could a rock do besides accidently make you trip over it?

As it turned out, nothing more. It also became clear that the things at the tunnels end were definatly not rocks. They were probably the furthest thing from it. As Joseph, Chet, and the people approached the end of the tunnel they saw what was there. "Hey," Joseph joked, " Look at that! It's darkness!"

" Ha ha ha, funny," Chet stated, " I did't think this would be a piece of cake. Its more like black raspberries." Joseph looked at him and started laughing. The four figures of Shadow John, Shadow Kevin, Shadow Christopher, and Shadow Brad didn't move. " Well, you're not going out easy, are you?" he asked. " Well, then lets go." Chet went for Shadows Brad and Kevin while Joseph charged at Shadows John and Chris.

Chet had started a strategy- go for Shadow Brad then dodge his arrows and Shadow Kevin's potions. It seemed almost foolproof until Shadow Kevin gave some physical repelling potion to Shadow Brad. So much for strategy. Joseph was having more luck. He was blocking Shadow Chris and continuously attacking Shadow John, not letting him pull of an Element Mage attack such as fire.

Mythinea was standing back. The men stood up front, in case the two young warriors let go of command. " A plan would be nice right now," Joseph said. Chet looked at him sternly. But that was because he already had a plan. Why would they not of ran by now if there wasn't a plan? If a physical repelling potion _repelled_ attacks, couldn't they push this shadow goons off the edge of the mountain platform? It was worth a try.

Chet explained the plain to Joseph by standing back to back and fighting in circles. Joseph figured this only worked in movies, but it turned out to be perfect for the situation. Joseph nodded after Chet had finished speaking. Then Joseph continued blocking as Chet ran back to the crowed. " Ok, listen. Charge on my command. Timing is impecable, so it's right the first time or not at all. Are you all informed?" They all nodded. " Ok, then. Code is execute." He then ran back into battle.

All but a moment later the time was right. Shadow John was standing directly behind Shadow Chris, who's axe was pushing Joseph's sword. Shadow Kevin was immediatly behind Shadow Brad, Who's bow was being pushed agenst by Chet's axe. The time was perfect. " Execute!" Chet commanded. It was more of an uproar than the first earthquake.

" What the hell are they doing!" yelled Joseph angrily.

" Oops," said Chet. " I hope they didn't litterally... oh crap." The two were now pushing the four Shadows and being pushed by Mythinea. In less than ten seconds they would be tumbling down the mountain. Along with them- hundreds of innocent, confused people.

"You would think people would be smart enough to stop if they were just about to fall down a mountain," Joseph said.

" Not people that have lived inside a mountain for the past few years, " Chet joked. Then he remembered who their leader had been. Naraf, archfiend and communist. " Halt!" Nothing. The didn't stop. in less than five seconds now, an accidental massacre would inevitably occer.

The shadows looked to the sky. What were they doing? It would soon become clear. In a puff of purple mist, they dissapeared to die another day. But not Chet, Joseph, or Mythinea. They were to die, or so it seemed, that day. Or maybe not. For at the moment they were at the edge of the cliff, a sheild appeared. It was a Magield. But no one could conjure that. No one but Shadow John or Shadow Jake. Right after that, the word Earthan echoed as though it were moving. Almost as normal, a pillar rose from the ground, this time from the bottem of the mountain. On top of it was four human figures.

There seemed to be no luck for Joe's team. The shadows out powered them. It was like falling off a rollar coaster; when it starts, it doesn't stop until your rescued or you die. That's what they needed now. Rescuing. But they knew there was none coming. Chris had told Joseph and Chet to lead the people from Mythinea. They were hopeless, doomed to be condemed by shadows. But thinking about that, Joe had an idea.

Certain weapons were strong agenst certain weapons. I was almost like two trinities. In one was the physical attacks; swords, axes, and all other solid weapons. Axe was good agenst lance which was strong agenst sword, and it repeated. In the other trinity was the magic, or non-physical attacks. Light was strong agenst Dark which was was good agenst Elements. The Elements were good agents certain elements, but of course it is obvious which is good agenst which. Some elements were even in their own categories! The only thing nobody knew was the powers of a boomerang.

" Find whoever your better than! Switch opponents!" Joe yelled this with immense confidence. If someone like Axel went up agenst Shadow Zach and Jake agenst Shadow Jude, the plan would work. And the matchups turned out to be perfect. The plan was good... Or so they thought. The team had not noticed the four blackend figures that had materialized in the ice cave. This was no longer an even match.

As Joe slammed his Lekino staff into Shadow Chet, he notice the potion that was hanging over his head. " I don't need one now, Zach, go back and fight." There came no response. Joe kicked at Shadow Chet, who fell backwards, giving him time to turn and talk. Then is when it all made sense. Joe had been thinking about the possibility sinse the battle in Neasmil. He had seen Shadows, but now he knew it was true. He knew now that there were more than ten people from earth in Kealato. Seeing shadow Kevin, potion in his hand, he knew the quest after this might become easier. But as for now, it was exactly the oppisite.

As Shadow Kevin began dropping the melting potion onto Joe's head, Joe began humming a tune he knew from earth. Taylor looked over from where he was fighting Shadow Chris to Joe, who was humming 'Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead'. What he saw wasn't good. He wasn't close enough, so he called to Zach, who would surely know what to do and was closer. "Zach! Joe!" Zach looked beside him to see a Shadow with a potion bottle standing over Joseph. He threw the parting potion, already in his hand, at Shadow Kevin. He didn't seem to move a body part besides the hand pouring the potion, but he split in two; the potion halfs dropped to the floor on either side if Joe, who slide-kicked the two body halves to the ground.

Luckily for Jake, he had seen what was going on and had concluded more shadows would come. And as predicted, he looked beside him to see Shadow Christopher, standing inches taller than him, with an axe raised. " And you though I wasn't ready? Ha!" Jake turned his wand on the shadow and cast " _Eytimener_," which rose Shadow Christopher into the air. He then pointed his wand at the ceiling. Shadow Christopher flew streight up, crashed into the ceiling, and fell down limp. " Easy," said Jake.

As Ben was completely into battling Shadow Amit, he never saw the nomad comming up behind him. At first Ben flew up into an upside down walk, then spun so he kicked the shadow in the chest. He came to a dizzy halt, and held up for only a moment until an arrow flew past his left ear. He turn to see another arrow being loaded into Shadow Brad's bow, but this time he was quicker. He span around the arrow and into Shadow Brad, who dodged the attack completely. Ben then reached onto his back and took out his bow. It had turned into a fight of the better marksmen. Ben grabbed his arrow and loaded it like lightning, but stalled to escape another arrow. He then fired the arrow at Shadow Brad, who it missed. Then another arrow streaked past. He had to terminate this guy, and fast. He loaded and fired his arrow again, but this time running toward Shadow Brad directly after the shot. The arrow missed the shadow as suspected, but Ben didn't. He fired a punch and it hit the shadow square in the face. He fell over, finally being beaten.

The last shadow, John, would be the hardest. He knew every aspect of an Element Mage, or otherwise an Elementist. He could send weapons fling or make the ground shake harder than it already was. He was even stronger than Jake. So how could he be beaten? Rauel was fighting Shadow Joe when the ground under him shook. Both he and his combatent toppeled. The same happened between Axel and Shadow Zach. The Kealatoeans looked over to see an Element mage standing over them with his wand in the air. Rauel and Axel smirked and rose from the ground.

" I think he's challanging us," Axel remarked.

" Well we must accept," Rauel suggjusted.

" Surely," answered Axel.

The two readied their weapons. Axel gripped his exploding boomerang as Rauel clenched his sword. Then they entered the battle. Rauel heled his sword over his shoulder and ran at Shadow John. Axel put his boomerang at the position. After the first strike by Rauel he would throw this boomerang, but timing was what they needed. So Rauel swung his sword at Shadow John; And it went right through him. " Axel," Rauel called with sternly. The two looked around the cave. They saw over ten copies of Shadow John. What spell could that be?

" Already done," Answered Axel. He threw his boomerang and it flew around the area, finally to hit the real Shadow John at the seventh spot. The boomerang exploded, leaving Shadow John to lay on the ground. All of the other shadows were now gone. It was time to go back to the counterparts of the battlers.

Joe felt confident now that they were done with that half of it. He turned around to Shadow Chet, who had his axe over his head. He threw an uppercut punch and the shadow's head cocked back. Nothing more. I went right back to normal. Joe looked into his eyes. He realized they had just turned a light shade of glowing blue. But hadn't Naraf gone? And another question. The earthquakes. His team had destroyed Naraf, so why was there still some dark force pushing on the earth. And the shadows were still living. There was something bigger going on here. It was just hard to know what it was.

No one else thought like that. They figured the Shadows fed off Naraf, and once he was gone the shadows would die. It was a good guess, but then why did these counterparts seem invincalble? The answer had not come yet. But something else did.

As the battle raged on, no one had noticed the purple mist that had began filling the tunnel. It had only seemed like fog for a while. But it soon became clear that the battles had all been a set-up. They had only been to lure the team away from what was really happening. Finally the time came for the truth to be told. Six people walked into the room. Along with them were Joseph and Chet.

The Shadows formed into a line. Shadow Joe was in the middle. Joseph and Chet stepped beside their team, which was now too in a line. The four others stepped foward to the middle of the area, facing the Shadows of the team behind them. John smirked. " Let's do this."

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**Joebushy**- someone better get chunkypuff3 to start writing his story, because the stories are coming together and he's still on 


	18. John and Joe

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 18**

**Joebushy-**Please read, beg Chunkypuff3 to write his story, review, beg Chunkypuff3, and enjoy (remember to beg Chunkypuff3)

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" Time!" Yelled John. The shadow counterparts of Joe's team froze. " Now, go and attack!" Christopher, Brad, and Kevin all ran into battle. It was a good strategy. Because the shadows were frozen in time, they could not dissapear as they got weaker. They couldn't even attack. The Shadows were doomed.Christopher slashed down on them with his warriors axe. Kevin used his exploding potion on some to turn them into purple ashes. Brad shot the remaining with his nomad arrows. "Timean! " yelled John. The shadows awoke from their daze and realized what had happened. They all started falling simultaneously. They were gone, hopefully for good.

Joe walked over to John, who stood below him (being shorter). " Is that really you?" Joe asked.

" Do you know anyone else who looks like me or answers to John?"

Joe looked up sarcastically, not noticing what lay above him. " Well there was this one guy in Georgia," He said. John chuckeled.

"Now what to do..." John said.

No one said anything. Amit randomly looked around. " Well," he said, " We could see what's causing that purple mist cloud from forming above us." Everyone there looked up, and surely what they saw was purple mist. It started sliding down. Faster and faster it came from the ceiling.

" Let's run," Keving said. The teams quickly started running to the exit of the cave. When the fire cave came into sight, they began to run through it. Or at least to almost the end. When they saw the exit and the purple mist that blocked it they realized they were trapped. There was only one way out.

" Let's go up," Christopher suggested.

Zach dissagread." No, we cant. The mist will catch us."

" Then what do you suggjust?" Zach indicated his idea by looking down.

" No," Brad said. " There's no way that we won't get damaged."

" Well," Joe said, looking at the two Elemental heroes and the dark and light warriors. " Technically, there is."

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" He... _Heal_..." Joe commanded from his place on the ground. His energy was almost immediately restored. He got to his feat and thought back. _What had happened that we're all on the ground?_ _Oh, now I remember. Jake used _earth_ and John used _Licufy_. The boulder fell on the shielders as we fell. _What a day this was turning out to be. He only hoped he didn't have a concussion. Or did he hope so?

He turned to look at Mythinea out of curiousity. What he saw almost put him in the same state as all of his grounded friend. The mythical underground city was destroyed. Houses had immense dents and holes on their exteriors. Pillars rose from the ground, accompanied by gaint stairs. The lake was like mud. The devistation was horrible. The next secounds seemed to him to be third person.

" _Heal team_," he said drearily, raising the Lekino staff. It emitted a green glow before sending forth a shower of green sparks. The projectiles found their places in each member of the team. They were unconcious, but they would be okay. He found himself walking toward John. They needed to talk.

" What happened?" John asked grumpily. He felt fine, as if waking up from a nap. He must of dreamt the fall.

" Wha... what do you think a-hole..." Rauel said in his sleep. He then rolled over and started hugging his sword.

" John, get up." Joe said. John's eyes snapped open. He hadn't dreamt the fall after all.

" Joe, i'm glad you're ok," John said, now getting up and fully back to reality.

Joe nodded. " I'm sorry I can't say the same. We need to talk. I cannot trust you, even if you did save our lives. For all I know, you could be working with the former Naraf." John seemed unoffeneded by that statement. Not a vein pulsed.

" Who's Naraf?" He asked. It had to be John. It was genuine curiousity, if you could use such a light term about such an evil creature. Joe motioned for John to come with him. John followed as instructed. They were going into Mythinea. It would be best to explain everything over some food. They were hungry.

It was eerie to see such a place. Even with the devastation and battle that had just taken place, some tables were still set. But they weren't planning to raid a home. They would go to a market and put money in the register. The first place they found was the fruit shop. It was perfect. The two heroes walked in.

Joe pick out a gaint Pummel berry as John plucked a Kunana of a tropical-like mini tree. The two put a couple dollars into the register and found a booth without rubble and dust scattered upon it- not an easy task. After sitting down at a table in the far corner of the fruit shop, they started talking.

John explained his first encounter with the shadows to Joe. They had been nine days into the trip to Neasmil When the shadows attacked. Purple mist began to block the path of his team, and they fought. John's team had won, of course, but the shadows immediately dissapeard.

" Wait," Joe said, a hint of discovery in his voice. " What did Kevin do right before they dissapeared?"

" He nocked a chunk of... shadow off of it, I guess." John answered. Somthing was going on here. He knew Joe knew something.

" John," Joe exclaimed excitedly, " Number one, you were most likely close to our camp, correct?"

John nodded. " Yes. we passed your camp. We knew you- or anyone else, for that matter- wouldn't leave your stuff unatttended like that days from civilazation. Something had to be up."

Joe looked at him. " But how did you know where to look?"

John smiled. " Someone yelled charge. That's never good."

" Really?" Joe smirked.

" No. But kind of. Brad knew from his Kealato mountain guidebook that there used to be a town around here. It said that the city mysteriously dissapeared, Leaving only a mountain in it's place. Many an adventurer have explored this area. They either didn't find anything or never came back. It was a tough situation, archiologists dissapearing left and right. Finally, the expedion was called off.

"Ancient Kealato mythology states that _As a city crumbles, a mountian of the elements will arise. Held in it will be the weapons of legand._ What ever that mean."

Joe smiled again. " John, do you see this staff?" He held up the Lekino staff.

John stared at it. " It's just like the one in the book."

" I know," Joe said seriously.

" But, back to how we're here," John said. " When we heard 'charge' from upon the mountain, we realized something was wrong. Because we were interested in the fire and ice caves, we ran to investagate."

Joe began thinking. " And Marshmallow? Where's he?"

John responded with, " At your camp. Anyway, we charged around the mountain to where we thought we heard the voice. We looked up and saw our shadows dissapear. Not good. So, being the good person I am, I used _earthan_. Just in time, too. We rose and saw Chet and Joseph being pushed off the mountain. I used _Presheild_. My staff shot out a yellowish sheild and bam- The two were flat, but safe.

" I then made enough consecutive pillars for my team to jump over to the mythineans. We told them directions to Neasmil and how to find food, and they headed out. We were were thanked by Joseph and Chet. And then, when all seamed calm, They told us where you guys were. We ran into the cave and you know the rest from there. Happy now?"

" Yes," Joe replied, " But what do think will happen if Marshmallow sees a couple hundred people march past?"

John began to think. It was almost a tough question. " I don't know. Last time he saw a lot of people, he didn't know where to start." Joe smirked. Things were getting better. He had more allies now. He knew nothing could happen. With his friends beside him, Kealato would be saved- hopefully.

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**Joebushy-** Thank you all for reviewing. I've been seriously working on the 'diologue problem'. Chunkypuff3's aim is z5kaento5z. Hopefully, you can ask him to write more. Otherwise, maybe Someday i'll have to begin work on it. Even if you've already reviewed, please do so again.

P.S.- Im going to get the storyline going again before I work on spelling and grammer.

P.S.(2)- This chapter would of been slightly different had I not run out of disc space. I hope you would rather have Joe and John have their conversation in a shop than by the ' mud lake'.


	19. Naraf Defeated

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 19**

**Joebushy-** Considering where the two teams are going, the meeting will be short-lived. For John- off to Neasmil. For Joe- Onward through Carinia, to Helioa. I promise the original story ( about john) will be someday updated... but until then, enjoy chapter 19. Remember- keep begging chunkypuff3- somehow

A fire was blazing as Joe and John arived back by their falling point. Axel and Christopher were sitting on a log, forming an intense argument.

" Man, I'm telling you, this thing explodes on impact and comes back!" Axel demanded. Christopher had not believed the story from the start.

" Sure. My axe explodes on impact, to. It's all shiney and fine afterward, though."

Axel stood. " Kid, just watch."

Christopher too stood up. " I will."

Axel threw his boomerang at the biggest boulder he could find. Joe thought he saw him mutter something like ' please work', but it was probly just his imagination. The boomerang hit it's target and did what it was ment to do- explode. It then flew back right into Axel's hand.

" What the heck was that!" Brad said, sitting up now. Everyone else began to stir; the explosion was loud enough to wake them. Once on their feet, everyone gathered around the fire. Joe and John took seats oppisite each other.

All sixteen of them talked. Axel and Rauel were introduced to everyone on Johns team. When it came time for Christopher to shake hands with Axel, who gladly held out a hand, Christopher only nodded. He seriously hated being proven wrong.

" We better get going." Ben suggjusted. Joe felt uncomfortable for a moment, like when your being watched, but that was short lived. He knew everyone around him, so no point in worring.

" Not quite," Chet said. " Kevin, what's in Helioa." Kevin explained about the polar bear battle that had happend to them in the mountains. He also mentioned something about an exploding potion and arrows. It seemed they still had a mystery to solve in Kealato.

" John..." Joe whisperd tensely, " We saw a polar bear in Exemap. It had arrows and a burn on it."

John's eyes widened. " Isn't that an island?"

Joe nodded. " Do you think the blue eyes have anything to do with the mist?"

John thought. _Yes, most likely. But there's no way of knowing. I better not tell him that._ " No. It's probly seperate."

" Then if so," said Joe, " We must continue going seperate ways." Joe got up. " Everyone to camp. We have time for farewells there." He motioned to everyone to follow. John ran up to Joe.

" Joe... I wasn't serious. Joe, listen to me!" John stopped and looked forward to the exit. There was none. The end of the town only consisted of solid rock. " Where is it."

" Where's what?" Joe asked.

" The exit!" John answered. Joe stared forward. There was a blank wall in the place of the stream. He looked behind him. His friends were standing still. Everything was quiet, like the calm before a storm. Joe didn't believe he hadn't realized it. It was such a villinous technique. This was the end of the line.

Joe swollowed. " Guys," he said, " It's a trap." The earth began to shake again. The purple mist began filling in from the caves. Something was coming again. Everyone knew it. They all turned toward the lake. It began to glow violet, then light purple. Bubbles began to rise like a hot spring. Then, rising from the depths came a figure. A figure with two wings and a sword. Naraf had tricked everyone. Now there could be no survivers to tell of the horrors of the archfiend.

" Guess who's back?" He said. His wings brought him into the air, higher and higher. Then he concield them onto his back and began to dive, a horrible air about the whole thing.

" Everyone, out of the way!" John yelled. Everyone flung themselves to the ground on either side. Naraf swooped through the middle.

" I wasn't expecting more company. Who are these four?" The archfiend questioned.

Joe smiled. " Friends." The sixteen of the team brought out everything they had. The physical attackers waited for Jake and John to use _gravity_ in unison. Naraf was now trapped on the ground; for a small period of time.

The sixteen charged toward the grounded archfiend. " Watch out, he still has a sword!" Chet yelled. Cautiousness took effect within the battle. The attackers were begining to realize just how strong this enemy was. It took twenty attacks to even phase him- but no matter. they still had a chance.

" _Incompatant fools! Never can you surpass the great splendor of immunity_!"

" Yeah," said Jude sacastically, " Never have we had the miricle of modern medicenes!"

" Well, well, so you think your smart?"

Jude never answered. He stepped back as the rest attempted to harm this beastly thing. How could such a being be living? But then again, he had been taken over by something too. He had just been healed that day. So why, he asked, could a person from earth have chosen the path of an archfiend?

_Because, I'm immortal._ Jude looked over at the fight beside him. This was getting scary. He had thought telekenetiks was only a star wars thing. But maybe not.

_Scared are you? Good. You have ought to be, my friend._

" Joe! Help!" Jude yelled. His mind was going crazy. Whatever was happening, he hated it. He was not used to being pushed around. Not anywhere. The voices were popping up out of nowhere, with no escape. Endless high-pitched screams of horror and the laughs of maddness rushed through his mind.

_Oh, am I getting to you?_

" Stop!" Jude yelled. " Stop! I can't take it! Stop!" He blocked his ears yet the taunting kept coming. The telepathic connection seemed not to collapse. Jude dropped to his knees in agony just as Amit ran over to his aid, out of the rage of war. But his friend had already fallen. Jude lay on the ground, shaking madly.

" Man, are you ok? Jude, Get up! Jude!" Jude's eyes began closing as he began to float away into uncoincessness. He was out and yet Amit wouldn't believe it. Jude couldn't do this, not now. " Jude, I promise I'll be back. Just please, don't get hurt. _Lifalin!_" The downed comrad levitated within the beam as Amit moved him to the top of one of the boulders that had fallen on their trip down. He then crossed his fingers and ran back into the battle.

_"Now, be gone!"_ Naraf commanded. He swung his sword three hundred and sixty degrees. The surrounding attackers ducked. For someone not twice their size, The archfiend was putting up a fight. Amit ducked the swing and ran into the frey. He then lunged at the monster in front of him. Naraf put out a hand and smiled.

"_ Garamaness!_" he yelled. Gaint spheres of darkness immediatly were on a constant output from the hand, on a straight line toward Amit's upper torso.

"_ Soonko!_" Amit yelled almost simultaneously. The blackened sphere stopped almost a foot from him. " Naraf, never walk on this planet again- nor any other in which your terror could be provided!" The sphere flew back to Naraf. He had been to confused to move. The garamaness struggled to enter the body, but it succeded. Naraf began to float off the ground as everyone backed up from the nightmarish spectacular. His back then hunched and his arms and legs flew back. His whole body began to quiver.

The teams thought it harder and harder to see the body. " It- It's dissapearing," Kevin said astonished. Everybody looked closer to see that he was in fact correct. The molecules in the evil body of the once upon a time human were just dissapearing. Finally he was gone. This time, Joe was sure.

" We have a lot of digging to do, so lets prepare to spend the night." Rauel suggested.

" No need, " Joe answered. " We have four magic users." He pointed to John, then Jake, and finally Amit. " Well, three." He said. " Can you guys get us out of here?"

" Sure," John answered, " But you're cooking once we're back." Three magic spells were fired at the wall of Mythinia. The rock colapsed to reveal the stream, rushing silently into the cave.

" This world is just so mysterious..." John inquired. " Why, for instance, will water only flow when it can? Why do we all have magical powers, or great strenghts? Just why?"

Joe stared at the reformed cave in thought. " I will explain my theory at camp. For now, grab Jude. I'm sure it is going to be a long walk.

Indeed it turned out to be. Taylor carried Jude on his back and out through the cave, in front of all but Axel and Rauel. The team walked though the tunnel for quite some time, winding and squinting only through the light provided by John, Amit, and Jake. Everyone was relieved when they felt a breath of wind from the outside.

John created a dirt bridge for everyone to walk over so as not to wet their feet more as they walked out. They walked about another two miles before reaching the campsite. " Marshmallow must be out hunting." Christopher said. " We were longer than expected. The late night air showed it was past nine pm, so they started a fire as to prevent the chill.

John grabbed a tarp out of his bag and put up a side of Joe's tent. It was actually surprising how big it was. It had fit eight people for at least four nights. With the tarp extention, though, all sixteen should fit snugly. After he melted the tarp on with _fireaim_, he directed himself toward the fire, where Jude was just stirring.

" W-what happened?" Jude questioned. He looked around. They were back at camp, away from Mythinea and the fire and ice caves. No more trouble...

" Naraf is gone." Amit remarked. " He knocked you unconcious as you went in for what could of been the final strike. But I got him. No worries."

" Hopefully not," he committed. " But he had nothing on bogeyman, seriously."

" I know what you mean," said the mage. The two began to laugh, but it didn't catch on.

They stayed up late, untill about one in the morning. When they awoke, Marshmallow had still not arrived. " Where is he?" Christopher asked tiredly from his sleeping bag. No one answered. He got up and looked outside. Only the coals of the fire remained. The sun shone over the surrounding mountains, making it feel like a definate morning. " I should not go looking alone."

He walked over to Brad and shook him awake. " What!" He said madly. He looked up at Christopher, who was looming over above.

" Marshmallow hasn't returned, and I need help looking for him. Come or not?" Brad thought about the offer then sat up.

" Fine, but I havn't taken a shower in ages. If we find even a trickle, I'll clean off." The two grabbed a backpack to fill with their clothes. Once filled, they each grabbed their weapons and walked out of the tent.

They were about to start on the path when they heard a voice from behind them. " Not going alone, are we?" They turned to see Joe standing there, fully dressed and packed. " Well, I don't think you have many potions from kevin, do you?"

The two's faces stayed blank. " Well, no, not really." Brad opened up his backpack. " We do have a couple Kawishi herbs, but thats it." He closed his backpack and looked to Joe.

" Well then, you'll need a healing mage. Maybe I can do some training with other people for once." Joe thought about what he just said, then again spoke. " I'll write a note. We can tell them to gather as many things as they can that's worth anything. Now, how long will we be away?" He grabbed a pen out of his bag and parchment from his pocket. " I'll just say we'll be gone for the day. Does that sound good?"

Christopher thought for a moment, then said, " Better make it two. All the better if we get back sooner." Joe nodded and finished the letter with a fast scribble. He walked inside the tent to set it down, then came out a moment later. He nodded as his feet carried him toward the two comrads, and the three began their quest to find Marshmallow. As they left, they had failed to notice the flame creeping toward their friend's camp.

**Joebushy-** Sorry it took so long for this chapter ( What, four months?). It seems I get a lot of writers block. Anyway, I'll begin on chapter 20 ( whoopie!) as soon as this chapter is uploaded to the site.


	20. A New Foe

**A Tale of Many an Adventurer- Joe's Story**

**Chapter 20**

**Joebushy-** If any of you ever feel like emailing me, my new email is I know no one would ever want to email me, but in case I ever become famous... you'll know where to find me. Anyway, I figured I needed some new partners for Joe to adventure with. By the way, I might begin to rewrite the original story soon. Hopefully I can get the chapters longer from now on here. No flames anymore, please. I will accept some constructive critcism though ( If it doesn't include something ive got, a.k.a. worst story ever with the most errors possible).

John awoke, fully aware of the extreme temperature that the tent had adapted. He looked around at the people in the tent. Thirteen people, including himself. Missing were Joe, Christopher, and Brad. Maybe they were out lighting a campfire. They had to be. He grabbed his wand from the holder on his right side and walked outside the tent. What he saw could have been the most dreadful thing he had seen yet in Kealato.

Fire was everywere. The trees around him were engulfed in flames, and the grass seemed to be only charcoals. For a moment he could only stare at the savage glare. It took only a couple seconds, though, until his adrenaline kicked in and he began to act in saving the area.

" Everyone out! Fire!" John yelled into the tent. Everyone began to groan simaltaneously.

" Shut up," Jake grumbled, climbing farther under the leaves of his bed. John walked over to him and raised his wand. Jake paid no attention.

"_Eat this!_" John yelled, pointing his wand at the ceiling. It blew off in a powerful gust wind. Everyone shot up attentively as the flames crept toward the camping area.

A flaming tree was beginning to sway violently. It finally gave way toward the heroes.

It had nearly collapsed on Amit before he raised his hand and yelled " _Creight!_" A sheild immediatly encaved him, and the flaming tree split in two over his head. " What the hell! You could have yelled something! You're all fags... Holy Sh-" He dodge rolled another just as it cratered to the ground where he had previously been.

"We have to find the other three!" Zach yelled, concocting his health potions and throwing as many exploding potions as he could.

John began to think quickly. He needed a strategy. If he wasn't strategic, someone wouldn't make it out alive. He voiced the first idea that came to mind. " Jake, Zach, Amit, Kevin, and Jude, stay here with me. Joseph, go look for the rest of us."

" And if we don't find them?" Joseph questioned. John glared at him as if to say that it wouldn't happen.

Meanwhile, Joe, Brad, and Christopher had come upon an eeriely deserted town. It was all too much reminding of Mythinea. Everything seemed in place. Food was on tables and the tailor's lantern was still lit. No one said anything as they walked into the town shop, a shabby cranny tucked between an old looking house and and old-growth tree.

Brad was just about ready to put a potion in his bag when he noticed something moving from the corner of his eye. " Was that one of you?" he questioned. Joe and Christopher looked at him.

" Nope," Christopher said casually. He looked toward the counter and saw a shadowed figure sitting in the chair behind it. " um... Joe?" He asked, turning toward the healing mage. Joe looked at him as he pointed toward the empty chair behind the counter.

" We don't need antidotes, if that's what you mean, unless your brain is poisened." The shelves began to rattle madly. Joe looked around and saw the same blackened creature standing in a corner. " Guys!" he yelled. The three looked to the corner.

" And what is it we have here?" the shadow asked in a low, haunted voice. " A couple of heroes who've just finished off the first of my top minions? Well, you've finished your last enemy, my friends." The creature stepped out of the corner, revealing what features it had. No doubt he was an archfiend, but he was nothing like Naraf. He had some of the same ghastly attributes- the black wing on one side and the long, dark silver hair dangling like a ghost to his shoulders. But nothing else resembled their previous rival.

The visible part of his face was white, but on the top right and bottem left of his face he had metal plates, scratched from combat. His body was fully black, or a black that thought it was dark purple. The purple mist expelled from the waist down, whereas no features were visable. Where his feet should have been only the mist shown, making him all the more mortifing.

" Who are you?" Christopher asked.

"Efkof," the creature answered. His red eyes seemed to be staring at each one of them. " A name you shan't forget as long as you live. I've noticed your accent. Where are you from?"

Joe searched his mind for the true answer. Would earth be a legitament answer, or did existance reach into infinity? He didn't know how large Kealato was, so he answered with all he could come up with. " A land on this planet many miles away..." He looked around the shop for a name. " The country of Potiantido," he finished. His mind laughed, even considering the situation.

" I have never heard of such a place, though I will consider the answer." Efkof said. " Now, I will let you live, or, at least, not kill you personally. But this whole planet, simply put- is damned to be destroyed. So, my adversaries, I bid you farewell. Stock up on water; you'll be needing plenty for what you're about to do."

A cold feeling immediatly fell upon the three humans. The potions in the shop all began to freeze, and all the glass began to to break. Efkof turned about face and dissapeared through the wall. Joe, Brad, and Christopher stood there frozen to the spot, paralyzed by archfiend magic.

" Axel, watch it! That tree's about to colapse!" Joseph yelled. Axel threw his boomerang at the falling object, throwing the tree off target and behind the seven that were attemting to find the three soloists. Joseph was leading the search party, hoping that if they did see something he would be able to tell everyone then come up with a strategy.

Chris ran up to Joseph to talk. " What if the fire's already reached Joe, Brad, and Christopher?" he asked. Joseph stared ahead.

" It already may have," he said. " Everyone, full speed!" The seven heroes charged into the upcoming town, hoping their friends were ok amidst the burning buildings. The town had been deserted, or so it seemed, only moments before. It was Mythinea all over.

Joseph looked past the town; into the mountaineous valley that followed. There he saw two groups of people, one ahead of the other. The first he didn't recognize, though they looked just as full of poverty and poorness as the second. The second were no doubt the people of Mythinea, trailing only a mile behind. This sight almost completely proved one thing. The three that were searching for Marshmallow the Lynx were closer. Even more, they were likely still in this town. Joseph could just sense it. Along with that, he sensed a great sorce of darkness coming from the shop on his right.

The team gathered around the outpost's wooden walls. If anything, Joe was in there, and he was in trouble. " On three," the cavalier said, " We storm the door."

Chet clutched his axe even tighter as Ben knocked his arrow in his bow.

"One."

The glass bottles inside the building began to shake.

"Two."

A ghostly wind blew from the cracks in the walls.

Joseph swolled. " Three!"

The team burst through the door. Joe, Brad, and Christopher stood paralyzed to their spots. " Someone get a potion!" Rauel yelled. Taylor rushed to find three uncracked healing concoctions and brought them back.

" What's happened?" he questioned. Everyone stared as Rauel poored potions into each comrad's mouth.

He sighed and looked up when he was finished. " An Archfiend's curse." he answered. Axel stared into Rauel's eyes. Rauel stared back, his eyes begginning to water. " I knew this would happen." Chris saw him grab his sword tightly.

Axel stepped in, knowing his partner could say no more. " There are many more than Naraf who have chosen the path of Darkness. I do not know if you have been informed, but Kealato is so large that less one forth of it has been discovered, and all that has is yet to be accuratly mapped. This planet is so large that not even in a million years will all of it's secrets be discovered.

" But back to archfiends. From what little is known of them, they all have one or two dragon wings and use the power of Darkness. They travel and live only to torture and cause panic. So, as you can plainly see, Naraf couldn't have been the only one."

Chet looked at him unbelievingly. " So we're not finished? We're not rid of the Darkness?" Axel nodded, his blue hair crawling up and down his back. Finally the three paralyzed teammates began to awaken. When they did, they explained all that had just happened.

At that same time, flames were overcoming the six flame fighters. Kevin and Zach were running out of potions, and the four projectile magic users were running low on energy. All the same, they had to protect their equipment. "No more!" John said, lowering his _Water_ attack to a trickle. " We have to run. Amit, use your object levitating attack to carry the stuff. I'll help. Jake, Make a platform for us to travel on. Move out!"

John used _Levise_ just as Amit used _Lifilin_. The two raised all of the objects in the campground into a gigantic ball of translusant white, then carried it together onto Jake's _Unertia_ platform. The other four were standing up on the magic base, all trying to find the best position for going high speeds. Finally, Jude had to put up an _Othith_ shield to keep everyone from grabbing his pants for comfort.

They all sat back as the hazel platform gripped Jakes leather shoes, so finally when he leaned forward they weren't thrown backward. The ride became extreme the farther they went. The heat intensified, forcing Jake to maneuver more and more carefully. Finally the worst happened.

Jake had just dodged a plummeting tree when a dark figure appeared in front of him. He slowed to get a closer look. John stood up from behind him and stared at the black creature. " Go. Jake, get us as far away as you can!" Jake turned as if to ask why, but John shoved him forward, making the _Unertia_ jolt into action. Jake once again began to maneuver, then asked John his question.

" What was that?" John looked at him. It didn't seem possible, but yet he had just seen it. It was appearing everwhere in his mind. Either that, or the archfiend that was following them was real. " Jake, you might want to move faster."

Jake turned around and looked at him. The magic platform stopped immedately, making the creature fly right into and through Jude's shield. It went about a yard away from them, then turned around. Efkof had revealed himself again.

"Spicy," Zach mocked after Efkof had explained who he was. The archfiend pretended not to notice.

" Now," he said darkly, " you're time is up. There won't be anyone here to save you as there was with your friends."

John looked at him with fake sarcasm. " Our friend's didn't have magic, did they?" Jake had withdrew the platform, so the six heroes were now standing on the charcoaled ground.

Efkof raised his eybrows then laughed for about a second, before he stared at the six with pity. " Maybe so, but you are still no match, even if you were to engage me." Jude stepped forward to talk, but the archfiend cut him off. " You will not be facing me. I have other... meetings to attend to. Although, I'm sure you will still feel the same as you would have confronting me as you will them." He swiped his hand backward, signaling for the shadow clones to arrise. He turned to them. " Have fun, my children. As for the human counterparts; enjoy your final breaths." The dark figure that stood before them seemed to melt into the ground, all the more revealing their shadow clones.

But it was not just the 6 clones. All of them were there. 16 figures stood in front of them, although some seemed to be transluscent. "What... What's wrong with them?" John asked. Everyone in the group stood blankly for a second. John shruged.

"We need to get around them, dodge the fire, and save everyone else from the fire," Zach stated, " And we can't split up agian. Time for a fire-fight..." The team split into a line to cover more ground. Amit and Jude used their shield techniques (_Creight_ and _Othith_) as Jake used _Levise_ to create a moving shied around the team. The only reason they wanted it to move was so they could attack and be protected at the same time.

Here's the strategy John had thought up. Zach and Kevin could keep rolling exploding potions down the middle as Jake and John attacked. Amit and Jude would maneuver the sheild to block the shadow attacks. It seemed inpenatrable. Believe me, it wasn't.

**Chuban-** I'm really sorry if anyone liked this. I had REALLY bad writers block for like... a year. It started when I went on a vacation last summer and had no computers. I was in a car about the whole time, so... I couldn't get many new ideas. Then I got caught up in a whole crapload of other things ( Sprite comics, Animation, and drawing). I was about to write some more when I found that my notebook was lost. After finding it (scribbled in and all), I began to write again. Sorry for anything that may confuse you!


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